She Went Mad

I was teleported to a parallel world by the system. After a decade of waiting, I finally received the news that I could leave. The system gave me seven days to say goodbye to this world. In my final seven days, I became exactly the person Rose Lewis wanted me to be. She and her dream man, Eden Carter, stayed up all night together, but I remained unperturbed. She used all her savings to open a store for Eden, and I happily agreed. She wanted to have a baby with Eden, and I nodded with a smile. Before leaving, I packed my luggage, wanting to bring some things from this world. Suddenly, she pushed the door open, her eyes showing an unprecedented panic. "This is your home. Where are you going?" Chapter 1 I had been on a business trip abroad for two months. When I received Rose Lewis' message, I was packing my bags to return home. Rose: [Are you still angry?] She sent another message. Rose: [Which flight? I'll pick you up.] After a moment of hesitation, I replied to her anyway. I stared at these two messages for a long time. This was unlike the Rose I knew. At least she never admitted her mistake when it involved her dream man, Eden Carter. She was not wrong to accompany him to drink late at night or to leave me sick and go shopping and watch movies with him, or even to spend Valentine's Day with Eden. In a fit of anger, I applied for the overseas project. We were still giving each other the cold shoulder when I left. For once, she was willing to give in, and I sensibly accepted her olive branch just as she had hoped. After the plane landed, I looked around. After waiting for nearly an hour, there was no familiar figure at the exit. I called her several times but got no answer. When the call got through, she answered absent-mindedly, "Hello? " "I'm at the airport. Where are you?" She suddenly started mumbling, "Ah, well... Eden accidentally scraped his hand earlier, so I brought him to the hospital to get it treated." Eden's voice, tinged with amusement, drifted through the line. "Rose, it's our turn." "Got it!" she replied hurriedly before saying to me. "Take a cab back yourself. I can't leave right now." "You promised you'd come pick me up." "Can you stop being so petty?" Her impatience came through over the phone. "I told you I'm busy. You calling so many times is really annoying. Can't you just take a taxi?" In the past, knowing Rose was with Eden again would have sent me into a hysterical rage. Now, thinking of the deadline the system had given me—only seven days left until I could leave this world and Rose behind forever to return to my true home, all my anger and grievances suddenly seemed trivial. I felt a sense of calm wash over me and replied gently, "Alright. Take good care of Eden then." There was a distinct pause on the other end; Rose seemed to have not expected that response. "You..." she said hesitantly. Without waiting for her to finish, I simply hung up and walked toward the taxi stand. The early spring breeze carried a hint of chill, yet I felt a sense of relief unlike anything I had ever known. Chapter 2 When I pushed open the door, the light in the living room blinded me and made me squint. Rose was curled up on the couch, engrossed in her phone, not even looking up when she heard the door opening. "Why so late? I'm starving. Cook for me right now." I silently put down my luggage and walked into the kitchen. As the refrigerator door opened, a musty smell hit me. The only remaining few vegetable leaves had turned yellow and rotten. Clearly, Rose had not even been home during the two months that I was away on my work trip. I took out my phone and placed a grocery order. I quickly cooked up a full spread. Rose picked at the food with her fork. "The salad is too salty. The pork ribs are overcooked." Finally, she simply tossed her cutlery. "Are you stupid? Can't you learn from Eden? You can't even cook a proper meal. What else can you do well?" Yes, she had always considered me useless. In the past, I would have slapped the table and told her, "Eat if you want. Forget it if you don't." Thinking of the remaining seven days, all my anger turned into a gentle reply. "Then I'll be more careful next time." Of course, there would be no next time. Rose was taken aback by my compliance. She paused, about to say something, when her phone suddenly rang. Her expression softened instantly the moment she saw Eden's name on the caller ID. "What is it, Eden?" Her voice was sweet as honey, nothing like the sharp, biting tone she used with me. Whatever was said on the other end made her jump to her feet. "I'll be right there!" After hanging up, she explained while slipping on her coat, "Eden's in a bad mood. I'll go keep him company." I had seen this scene play out countless times. I did not try to stop her; I simply watched her leave in silence. She seemed pleased by my sensibility. Just before walking out, she said something she rarely said. "I'll be back soon." I murmured a word of acknowledgement but did not take what she said to heart. I knew she would not be coming back tonight. Ten minutes later, Eden published a post on social media. The photo showed Rose wearing an apron, cooking in the kitchen with gentleness on her face. Eden’s caption read: [The happiest thing in the world is eating a meal cooked by the person you love.] I almost felt like shipping them myself. Quite a few mutual friends had already liked and commented on the post. [Eden’s the man. A dream man just hits different.] [They’re such a perfect match.] [Sending my best wishes!] I suddenly remembered the day we registered our marriage. Rose had not even posted about it on social media. Her excuse was that she "disliked displaying affection in public", yet here she was—wearing an apron and cooking for Eden—openly appearing in everyone's sight. Throughout our five years of marriage, Rose had always been lukewarm toward me. Her friends also looked down on me, secretly calling me a shameless simp. However, I stopped caring about their opinions a long time ago. After all, I was leaving soon. Their mockery and ridicule no longer concerned me. Chapter 3 When I was 20 years old, the system bound me to this parallel world. The system told me that Eden was Rose's childhood sweetheart. According to the original storyline, the two would get married. Eden was polite on the surface but actually a violent maniac. After they got married, Rose would be tortured by Eden until she went insane and eventually died from the violence. My mission was to prevent Rose and Eden from getting married and change her fate of being tortured by violence. I did everything possible to pursue Rose. I remembered Rose casually mentioning that she wanted the soy latte from the East District. At 5:00 am, I rode through half of the city just to get her warm soy latte when she woke up. She had a fever of 102 degrees, and I gave up my promotion, even taking seven days off and staying by her side. I scoured the entire city for fever-reducing medicine in the middle of the night, and then scalded my hand while cooking soup at dawn. Later, I finally married Rose. Rose cried at the wedding, saying I was her true love and promising never to separate from me. I thought I was the happiest man in the world, so I refused the system's request to leave. However, I forgot that people's hearts change easily. Just one year after marriage, Rose's heart became completely devoted to Eden. Eden became the dream man that Rose could not have, while I became nothing more than an eyesore. However, I refused to give up. Whenever Rose went to see Eden, I would try to stop her, like a madman. This only made her loathe me more; compared to the refined Eden, I was nothing but an annoying burden. Eventually, she could not even be bothered to speak to me. Then came the day she suddenly announced she wanted to have Eden's child. I thought I had misheard her. My wife wanted to have a baby with another man? "You can't have kids anyway, so what right do you have to stop me?" She spoke of this absurd idea with such self-righteousness that I laughed in sheer disbelief. It was not that I could not have children; it was that I did not want to put her through the ordeal of childbirth. During our pre-marital checkup, the doctor warned that she was not suited for pregnancy. Not wanting her to suffer the pain of giving birth, I decided right then that we would remain child-free. Touched, she hugged me and said, "Thank you for looking out for me like this, honey." Now, my thoughtfulness had been twisted into the claim that I 'could not' have children. From that day on, we were locked in a long, icy standoff. Now, I could finally be free. As expected, Rose did not come home all night. I slept soundly in our big bed. While I was making breakfast, Rose came swaying home in her high heels, a suggestive red mark visible on her neck. I pretended not to notice and placed the finished sandwiches on the table. Rose reached out to grab one, but I smacked her hand away with my cutlery. "If you want food, make it yourself." She retorted nonchalantly, "Didn't you make this for me?" Hearing that, I crossed my arms and sneered. "So I'm supposed to make you breakfast after you go out and fool around with another man all night?" She frowned, her voice raspy from a hangover. "Fool around? Don't put it so harshly." Since I was leaving soon, I was not in the mood to argue with her. I just waved my hand, telling her to order takeout herself if she was hungry. After breakfast, I was in the kitchen washing the dishes. Recalling that I was one day closer to going home, I could not help but hum a tune. Rose seemed to see I was in a good mood, so she seized the moment to tell me she had taken all our savings to help Eden open a tattoo parlor. I looked up at this small two-bedroom apartment. The paint was peeling, and the wooden floors creaked underfoot. Fearing I might scold her, she quickly added, "Eden is laidback. He dislikes the constraints of a regular job. Plus, he's always wanted to open a shop of his own..." I efficiently cleared away the dishes and wiped my hands. "Sure. You can decide on these things yourself; no need to tell me in the future." Rose looked completely stunned, as if she did not recognize me. "Jasper Grey, what did you say?" When I first arrived in this world, I was just an ordinary college student with no family background; I had to start from scratch. Rose came from a modest family too; we could not even afford a decent home when we got married. The apartment we lived in now was one I bought after working hard and scrimping. I worked myself to the bone over the years; every penny of our savings came from my overtime and sleepless nights. What about Rose? Ironically, she never contributed a single thing to our household while her career flourished thanks to my help. Her entire salary went to Eden—either to pay off his car loan or to buy him luxury goods. Now, she was even handing over my life savings, accumulated over so many years, to Eden to open a tattoo shop. "Aren't you angry, Jasper?" Rose’s voice suddenly softened. "After all, you saved up most of that money." I stopped and turned to look at her. "What if I said no?" She immediately became agitated. "That’s out of the question! Eden needs that money!" "So you’ve already made up your mind, haven't you?" I gazed at her calmly. "I..." I interjected, "Take it all. It won't have anything to do with me anymore anyway." She suddenly panicked. "What do you mean by that?" "You heard me." I walked away without looking back, shutting her questions out the door. Chapter 4 When I arrived at the company, I went straight to my boss' office. After briefly reporting on the work done abroad, I placed the resignation letter in front of him. My boss pushed up his glasses in shock. "Jasper, what's this? You completed this project perfectly. One nod from you, and the position of department director will be yours. Why do you suddenly want to resign?" "Thank you for your guidance." I smiled. "But I have decided to go back to my hometown." As I walked out of the office, my colleagues all looked at me with puzzled expressions. I had completed all the work handovers and gave the plants on my desk to the colleague next to me before leaving. "Jasper, are you really leaving?" The colleague held the flowerpot and looked at me sadly. I patted his shoulder. "All good things must come to an end." When I walked out of the company entrance, the sun was shining. I took a deep breath and felt the burden on my shoulders a little lighter. Three days before I was supposed to return home, I wanted to go to the mall to buy some souvenirs to take back home. I ran into the intern Sylvia Stan in the mall. She was a promising talent that I had brought up from scratch. "Jasper, you're really leaving?" Her eyes were red. "Yeah, I'm going back to my hometown." I patted her shoulder. "You're capable. You'll definitely..." Before I could finish, a familiar laugh rang. At a baby store around the corner, Rose was holding up a tiny outfit, sizing it up, while Eden affectionately wrapped an arm around her waist. Eden spotted me first; the corner of his mouth curled into a provocative smile before he leaned in and whispered something in Rose's ear. Rose snapped her head up, her gaze piercing me like a knife. "Jasper!" She stormed over, pointing furiously at Sylvia, who was standing beside me. "Who is she?" I frowned. "What is it to you?" "I'm your wife. Of course, I need to know!" She sneered and then feigned a sudden realization. "So that's why you agreed to pay so readily. You've already found yourself a mistress; you were feeling guilty!" Eden sauntered over; his eyes darted around as he deliberately raised his voice. "Jasper, I hate to say this, but Rose is pregnant. And you're taking your mistress out shopping? That's too much." "Pregnant?" I looked at Rose's belly in shock. The crowd had already begun to stir, with whispers and murmurs spreading all around. "What a scumbag!" "Cheating on his wife while she's pregnant?" "He's a monster!" Rose stood beside Eden with a sneer, with no intention of explaining the situation. "You two are crazy." I grabbed Sylvia's hand and turned to leave. "Stop right there!" Rose suddenly lunged forward and grabbed my arm. "You're trying to run away?" I violently shook off her hand, my voice icy. "Rose, I've been abroad for work for the past two months. Don't you have any idea whose child that is?" The crowd erupted in an uproar. Some people pulled out their phones to record, while others criticized Rose. "Gosh, I can't believe there's a plot twist like this!" "After everything, the baby isn't her husband's at all?" "I knew it. The guy's reaction earlier was off. Turns out he has been cuckolded." "That guy standing next to her is standing so close to her; he's probably no good either." Eden turned grim and then pale; he instinctively hid behind Rose. Rose bit her lip; her red-manicured fingers clutched the strap of her bag so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Why are you quiet?" I sneered. "Shall we go to the hospital for an examination? Let's see exactly how far along the pregnancy is." "It's not like that! It's not like that!" She suddenly screamed. This time, the crowd's sympathetic gaze had already shifted to me. The man who had initially accused me even patted me on the shoulder. "Bro, you've been through a lot." Feigning utter heartbreak, I grabbed Sylvia and left the scene. As for Rose and Eden—they were about to be drowned in the crowd's scorn. That unpleasant encounter at the mall completely killed any desire I had to buy souvenirs. I decided to go home and pack. I dug out a long-forgotten storage box, which contained my cherished memories from the past decade. As my fingers traced the slightly yellowed "Valeditorian" certificate, I recalled the look of pride on my mentor's face at the graduation ceremony as he patted my shoulder and said, "Young man, you have a bright future ahead of you." I looked at a commemorative photo taken when I received my first promotion; the younger version of me stood among my colleagues, smiling shyly yet full of hope. Then there was that heavy industry competition trophy—the result of three consecutive all-nighters... My phone rang, snapping me out of my reverie. It was Sylvia. Her voice sounded a bit hesitant. "Jasper, are you really okay after what happened today?" I leaned against the window, gazing out at the night. "It's alright. I'm sorry you got dragged into this mess for no reason, Sylvia." "It's okay!" she answered hurriedly, her voice suddenly turning bright and cheerful. "I trust Jasper's character. It's just..." Her tone dropped again. "Are you really leaving? Will you forget us?" "Of course not." I smiled. "Even if I leave, I'll still remember you all." After hanging up, I looked around the room. Aside from Rose, the world had actually left me with nothing but warm memories—my mentor's guidance, my colleagues' kindness... Just as I was busy sorting through my photo album, the door was flung open, slamming against the wall with a loud bang. Rose stood in the doorway, her chest heaving and her carefully styled hair disheveled. She stared at my suitcase, and her face was deathly pale. "Are you leaving? Where are you going?" She rushed forward in her ten-centimeter heels, but her heel wobbled, causing her to stumble awkwardly. "Aren't you an orphan? Where else can you go besides here, by my side?" I gazed at her quietly and did not respond. "Jasper!" She suddenly raised her voice, an unprecedented panic in her tone. "Say something!"