Our Marriage Never Made It on Camera

Levi Hoffman detests having his photo taken. Whenever his company holds press conferences, he forbids all reporters from bringing their cameras inside. Even though we've been married for three years, we've never taken a single photo together, let alone our wedding photos. He's cold and aloof by nature, and he refuses to waste his life in front of a camera lens. To him, it's utterly meaningless. However, things change the moment I see a photo of him and a young woman inside a photo booth at the mall. The young woman was smiling sweetly at the camera while Levi gazed at her with a doting expression on his face. They were huddled close together in the photo, looking just like any of the other couples who also had their photo booth photos pasted on the walls. I tear down the photo of him and the young woman before tossing it onto his desk. However, he just glances at it for a moment before replying nonchalantly, "She wanted to have some fun and insisted on dragging me inside the booth. It's just a photo. Why are you so worked up about it, Natasha Bowen?" I chuckle. So, while I've been trying to get just a photo of the two of us in the same frame for the past three years to no avail, another woman can chalk it up as "having fun" and get her picture easily just by acting coy. I take off my wedding ring and place it right on top of the photo. If this is the case, then I might as well just disappear from the lens of his life forever. Chapter 1 Natasha's POV It wasn't until I dropped my ring onto Levi Hoffman's desk that he finally deigned to look up at me with an impassive expression on his face. "It's just a single photograph, and you think it's worth taking off your wedding ring for that?" "Yes," I replied calmly, looking into his eyes. "It's also worth ending the marriage over." A flicker of emotion finally crossed his face. He stared at me and said, "Natasha Bowen, you aren't behaving the way a proper Mrs. Hoffman should." My tears gushed forth at once. "Mrs. Hoffman?" I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress the sharp pang in my heart. "What kind of Mrs. Hoffman do you want? The kind who's been married to you for three years but doesn't even own a single photo of you?" Levi's expression darkened further. "I told you that I hate taking photographs. And it's already been three years. What are you still harping about after so long? Did you marry me? Or did you marry a photograph?" Tears continued streaming down my face. I felt like I was suffocating when I looked at him now. I still remembered the day when we registered our marriage at the town hall. After the registration was over, the staff asked us if we wanted to commemorate it with a photo. However, at the mere mention of it, Levi suddenly threw up next to me. He told me that he despised having his photo taken, and he would never be able to face the lens of a camera for as long as he lived. He apologized to me for it, and I chose to trust him and understand him unconditionally. But everything changed the moment I saw him in that photo with that young woman at the mall. They'd stood so close together in the photo, and they'd also taken so many different shots at once in that singular photograph that was printed out. And yet, there wasn't even a single couple's photo between the two of us. I felt utterly hollow and absurd about the entire situation. That was also the reason why I was done with him and didn't want to put up with it anymore. "Mr. Hoffman! Do you think I look better in yellow or—" The office door was suddenly pushed open, and a young woman in a bright yellow dress flitted in like a beautiful flower in spring. It was Levi's assistant, Viola Spears. She was also the young woman who had appeared in the photograph alongside Levi. "Mrs. Hoffman!" she exclaimed the moment she saw me. She immediately lowered her head timidly and caught sight of the photograph and the wedding ring on Levi's desk. She got flustered and quickly explained herself. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hoffman! I didn't mean to pull Mr. Hoffman in for the photograph! I was just treating him like an elder brother and just wanted to joke around with him… Why did you take off your wedding ring? Did I cause a misunderstanding between you both?" I didn't say a word. Viola's voice began to tremble. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at Levi with pitiful eyes. "Natasha," Levi called out to me sternly. "Apologize to Viola." I couldn't believe my ears. "Apologize?" I echoed with a cold sneer. "What for?" "Because your baseless suspicions hurt her." I felt as though my heart had been plunged into a bucket of ice water. Levi lost his patience with me when he realized that I was being stubborn about not apologizing. He shifted his gaze to Viola and spoke to her gently, "Don't worry. That's not a wedding ring. I just found it inside my drawers and took it out. If you like it, you can have it." Viola looked at the dazzling, radiant diamond on the ring, let out a loud cheer, and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Mr. Hoffman!" She then slipped the ring onto her own finger, beaming in delight. I just turned and walked away without a backward glance, but he called out to me again. "Natasha. I'll order another new ring for you tonight—" I slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Then, I rushed into the bathroom and threw up until I nearly lost consciousness. I groggily made my way back home after that. Sometime in the evening, Levi really did send over a new ring with a bigger, more expensive diamond set into it, but I tossed it into the trash without even bothering to look at it. I collapsed onto the bed and stared soullessly at my phone screen, doomscrolling until I suddenly came across a very familiar photo. It was a photo of the ring I'd taken off today. But now, it was on another woman's finger. "I'm so in love with the new ring my boyfriend gave me today!" I felt my heart drumming in my chest as I tapped on the profile picture of the original poster. At once, I was met with an endless stream of photos on her profile. It was Viola's social media account. She had posted every single day on her account, and in every single tightly packed 20-photo Instagram post she published online, I saw traces of my husband in them. Chapter 2 Actually, Viola had never taken a photo of Levi's full face. She only posted shots of specific parts of his body. There was one showing his hand as he spoon-fed her stew while she was sick. There was one showing his back, silhouetted against the brilliant fireworks display on New Year's Eve. There was also one showing his eyes, filled with love and doting affection, as he gazed at her amidst the candlelight of her birthday cake. Her photography skills were actually nothing to shout about. And yet, Levi was very much willing to appear before her camera lenses. He once told me that because of his status as an illegitimate son, his childhood was spent enduring endless bullying and humiliation by his family and classmates. And every time they bullied him, they would snap photos and take videos of his bruised, battered body. As a result, he developed severe psychological trauma and came to loathe anything to do with cameras. I felt terrible hearing about his experience, and because of that, I gave up my career as a photographer after getting married to him. And yet, in just three short years, he made an exception for another woman and did it again and again. He appeared in Viola's photos completely composed, with eyes full of love and adoration for her. "Mrs. Hoffman! Mr. Hoffman got drunk at the company dinner, but since my place is closer than yours, I'm bringing him back for the night!" A text message suddenly jumped out at me. It was sent to me using Levi's phone number. Then, a second message jumped out. "Here. I'll send you a couple of photos just to let you know." Another photo came in, and this time, it was a live photo, showing Levi lying on the couch, his eyes dazed and looking obviously intoxicated. As the image played for a couple of seconds, Viola had reached out and yanked Levi toward herself, pulling her body tightly against her own. The screen then suddenly went black. Viola had deleted that photo. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Hoffman! Mr. Hoffman lost his balance against me just now—I swear nothing actually happened between us!" A smug voice message immediately followed that deletion of the live photo, but I felt nothing but numbness as I listened to it. I simply recalled our wedding night. He'd been drunk out of his mind too, and I'd picked up my phone with a smile, wanting to sneak a photo of him. However, he suddenly grabbed me fiercely by the throat and slammed me violently onto the couch. I would never forget that fleeting look of disgust and wariness in his eyes—or the look of deep longing and infatuation in his eyes in that deleted photo Viola sent. I wiped my tears away, turned on my laptop, and sent out an email. I didn't want to continue staying here anymore. The next day, Levi finally returned to the villa. He brought Viola with him. "I got drunk last night and stayed over at Viola's place—" "Got it." He explained it calmly to me, so I also interrupted him just as calmly. He was stunned for a moment, and a look of frustration appeared on his brow. However, he quickly regained his cold demeanor and simply said, "Good. "I brought Viola with me today because she needs a favor from you. Viola wants to hold a photography exhibition. You used to be a photographer, didn't you? Mentor her." I dug my nails into my palms and felt the numbing pain searing through my body. I had given up my photography career for him, and now, he was holding a photography exhibition for another woman instead. "I haven't been in the industry for a long time. There's nothing I can teach her," I said coldly before turning to leave. "Mrs. Hoffman! Wait!" Viola caught up to me and stuffed a stack of photos into my hand. "I really want to learn these skills from you! I'm serious about it!" I lowered my head to look at the photos in my hand. The first photo on top of the pile was an explicit photo of Levi leaning over her body in bed. She then leaned closer to me, the innocent look on her face disappearing as she spoke in a provocative tone, "You'd better know when to give up if you know what's best for you." She then shoved the photos harder toward me, and I hissed in pain before instinctively pushing her off. She suddenly flew backward and tumbled toward the ground. "Viola!" Levi immediately rushed over and caught Viola just as she was about to tumble down the stairs. Then, he straightened himself and delivered a hard slap across my face. "Natasha! I knew you were such a vicious woman after all!" He wanted to continue berating me, but he hesitated when he saw my lifeless eyes staring back at him. Viola let out a cry of pain in his arms, and he immediately whisked her up and brought her away. I just let out a self-deprecating smile and loosened my grip on the photos, letting the blood flow freely down my palm onto the floor. Viola had hidden a sharp blade inside the stack of photos. However, I didn't care about pursuing the matter any further. My phone rang just then, and I answered the call that I'd been waiting for a long time. Chapter 3 "Are you sure, Natasha?" a voice asked me on the other end of the line, filled with shock and pleasant surprise. I gave a certain answer. "That's good! I said it before and I'm saying it again—there's always a place for you on the team as long as you're willing to come back!" I smiled before hanging up. That was right. I was going back. It was high time for me to return to where I truly belonged. Not long after hanging up, I received a text message from Levi. "Viola sprained her ankle. Come to the hospital to see her if you have the time. And make some beef stew for her while you're at it. "She prefers bland food, so make sure you don't use too much salt. Skim off all the grease and don't add any shallots or scallions either." So, as it turned out, Levi could have a good memory after all. In the three years we were married, he'd bought me three birthday cakes, and every one of them contained mango, which I was deathly allergic to. In the first year, he apologized to me and hugged me, saying that he'd forgotten about it because he was too busy at work, and he told the cook to make a fresh one for me without mangoes at once. In the second year, he said that he forgot to note down my allergy, so he got the cake shop to make a new one and have it sent to the villa immediately. In the third year, he asked me what the big deal was, saying that I could have just told his assistant to swap it out for another cake if I couldn't have it. Now, I finally understood what it all meant. It wasn't the cake that needed swapping out. I should have swapped him out a long time ago instead. The next morning, I sent him the divorce agreement that I'd drafted. He called at once, warning me to stop making a scene. I told him that I wasn't making a scene, and that I'd made this decision of my own accord. "Your own accord?" he sneered, his tone laced with coldness and mockery. "Have you already forgotten how you let my mother humiliate you in front of the entire family just so that you could beg her to let you marry into the family?" My pupils contracted. When I first began dating Levi, his mother, Patricia Walsh, had been entirely against it because she disliked me. She thought that I was far beneath someone of her son's prestige, and ordered me to take photos of the family dog instead, telling me that I was only worthy of being a photographer for their dog. Back then, I didn't want to make things awkward for Levi, so I agreed and picked up my camera. However, Levi held my hand and left the Hoffman manor after telling Patricia that I was the person he'd chosen to spend the rest of his life with, At that time, he'd even told his mother harshly that he wouldn't mind severing ties with her if she continued opposing our relationship, just so that he could be with me. But now, Levi was using the incident to humiliate me instead, accusing me of using whatever means necessary to marry up into his family. There was a loud, pregnant silence after that. He seemed to have thought of something at that moment and coughed awkwardly. "Whatever it is, stop being so unreasonable with me." I let my arms fall to my side in a listless manner. Just as I was trying to come up with another way to convince him otherwise, he spoke again. "Viola's photography exhibition will be held next week. It's her first time doing something like this, so she's naturally nervous about it. You should come along to put her at ease." My heart clenched. Just as I was about to refuse, he cut me off. "You'd better not even think of pulling any of your stunts this time, Natasha Bowen. If you show up, I will consider sitting down with you to discuss our relationship." He spoke to me condescendingly as though he were bestowing a favor upon me, maintaining that same air of superiority with me as always. I let out a long sigh. If I wanted to settle things face-to-face with him and make a clean break, I had no choice but to agree to go to the exhibition after all. However, I never expected Levi to be much more cruel than I ever expected. The moment I stepped into the exhibition hall, my blood ran cold. Every single photograph displayed in the hall, every last one of them, was actually my work. On stage, Viola smiled radiantly as she pointed to a photograph beside her, saying, "This photo is called 'Grasslands in the Morning Light', and it's a very special work that I captured very recently…" That photo was one I had taken three years ago while risking my life on a battlefield in Fricaland. I immediately rushed onto the stage, slapped Viola across the face, and demanded, "Who did you just say was the one who took this photo?" Chapter 4 No sooner had I asked that question than several bodyguards swarmed in and dragged me off the stage. They covered my mouth with tape and told the audience that I was a mentally unstable intruder who just wandered in to crash the event before hauling me backstage. I struggled desperately against them until I caught sight of Levi. "Levi Hoffman!" My voice trembled as I called out to him the moment they ripped the tape from my mouth. "Those are my photos! How could you steal my photos and give them to Viola!" Levi seemed stung by my accusation. He frowned hard and looked at me with a displeased and disdainful manner. "Stole? You'd already stopped being a photographer ages ago, and those photos were never made public anyway. So what if I gave them to Viola? "If she wants to establish herself in the photography world, she's going to need a strong portfolio to back her up." I felt as though I had been plunged into an icy abyss. "Then, what about me?" I rasped. "Why should my hard work be used to pave the way for her?" Levi's gaze darkened as he said, "I'll make it up to you." Viola suddenly rushed backstage just then and fell to her knees before me, wailing, "Mrs. Hoffman! I'm begging you, Mrs. Hoffman, please help me out just this one time! "I really love taking photos! Please just indulge my greed this one time, Mrs. Hoffman!" Levi's eyes were instantly filled with anguish and heartache the moment he saw Viola on the floor like this. He pulled her into his arms and gave the bodyguards a look. I couldn't bear to look at them anymore. Just as I struggled to leave, one of the bodyguards shoved me off the stage, and I fell heavily down the stairs, landing against a banister that struck me right in the lower belly. I felt an excruciating pain spreading through my body. I stared in a daze at the blood spreading beneath me, locking eyes with Levi for just a moment, whose expression suddenly turned panicked. Then, my whole world blacked out. When I woke up again, I was told the news of my miscarriage. The baby had been a month along. I'd looked forward to this baby for three years, and now, it had left me just as silently as it came. Levi sat by my bed, looking at me with a rare guilt in his eyes. He told me that we would still have another baby next time, and that this was nothing more than just an accident. He even told me that if I really cared that much about the photos, then he would make it up to me by taking wedding photos with me after I'd recovered from this. I just stared at the hospital ceiling above my head and chuckled very slowly. Levi's expression changed. "What are you laughing about?" "I'm happy that the child left at such a convenient time like this," I said, ignoring the dark look on his face. I then made myself clear and said, "I don't want you to make it up to me. "I just want a divorce." Levi flew into a rage. He left the hospital ward and slammed the door heavily behind him. Three days later, a signed divorce agreement was sent to my bedside. I looked at his signature on the documents and smiled in relief. … Levi didn't come to visit me again until the day I left. However, the car that was meant to bring me to the airport suddenly made a detour and brought me to an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs. I was bound and brought out of the car. Viola looked at me with a triumphant smirk on her face, and with a wave of her hand, a dozen men with hungry, gleaming eyes immediately crowded around me. She then set up her camera on a tripod nearby and said, "Since you love taking photos so much, Mrs. Hoffman—why don't I let you have your fill of it today? "But don't worry, I'll also be recording everything on video, so I'll make sure to pick out plenty of your most 'flattering' shots to post online." As my clothes were torn away, I stared in despair at the men closing in on me, unable to break free from my confines. Then, Viola happily answered a phone call and left the place with a look of delight on her face. Next to me, my crushed phone lit up with a new text message from Levi. He said, "Viola wants wedding photos too, so I'm going to take wedding photos with her today. As for your photos, I'll make it up to you next time." The taste of blood spread in my mouth. I just stared at the words and laughed silently. There was never going to be a next time. There would never be a next time for us, Levi Hoffman. … Levi sat in the bridal shop, holding his phone in his hand as a disapproving frown creased his brows. It had been two hours since he sent out that text message, but I hadn't replied to him at all. And this wasn't something I usually did. For some reason, he felt very unsettled at that moment. Even when Viola emerged in her wedding dress, he only offered her perfunctory praise before getting distracted again. While he was distracted and still waiting for a reply from me, a set of private, explicit photos suddenly shot to the top of the trending list on social media. The moment Levi clicked on them, his pupils contracted sharply. Right at that moment, his secretary, Ronan Farrell, called. "Mr. Hoffman! We've got terrible news!" Ronan practically yelled in his ear. "An abandoned warehouse in the suburbs exploded, and it's been burning for two hours—and it seems that Mrs. Hoffman might be inside!"