My Wife Used My Money and Job to Support Her First Love—Now She’s Begging for Another Chance After I Asked for a Divorce

“Hey, Liam, those clothes look great on you.” “Where did you buy that fabric? I want to make an outfit like that for my son.” The neighbors saw Liam and were so dazzled by his clothes that they could hardly look away. Liam smiled brightly and answered cheerfully, “I don’t know either. Maya made them for me. I think they look great too.” The neighbor teased them without thinking, “I’m so jealous. You two have always been close since you were kids. I really thought you’d end up getting married!” After saying that, the neighbor suddenly remembered that I was there and hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Ethan, I was only joking. Don’t take it to heart.” “I’ll get going now. We can chat another day!” I watched the neighbor walk away, then knocked Liam’s foot off my shoulder and said unhappily, “I’m not taking any customers today. Go somewhere else.” The moment I entered the house, Liam’s taunting words kept echoing in my mind. “Bang!” I slammed the door shut to vent my anger. Maya, who had been sitting on a wooden stool, flinched at the noise. She slowly walked over to me and asked in confusion, “Ethan, what’s wrong?” “Why did you close up so early? Did those troublemakers come after you again?” The moment she said that, I let out a mocking laugh. I still remembered the time I had been shining shoes at a stall in town. Several thugs had stuck their feet out in front of me without a word and ordered me to clean them until there wasn’t a speck of dirt left. When I saw their familiar faces, I realized they were the town’s notorious deadbeats. I waved my hand, indicating that I wasn’t taking any more customers that day. They assumed I looked down on them and started beating me. They beat me until I was barely conscious, leaving my blood all over the ground. There were plenty of people standing around watching, but not one of them was willing to step forward and help, including my wife. At the time, she had stood frozen beside Liam, tugging lightly at his sleeve as she warned him in a low voice, “Let’s not get involved. Those thugs are dangerous. What if you get dragged into it too?” After saying that, she pulled Liam away and left without looking back. When I came back to my senses, I could only find it ridiculous. I had once treated her like a priceless treasure, afraid she would melt even when I held her in my palm. After hearing that several robbers had appeared in town, I had picked her up from work and taken her home every day, no matter how hard the rain fell or how strong the wind blew. But what about her? When she saw the husband she shared a bed with being beaten half to death, the man she worried about was someone else. At that moment, the heart that had loved her for fourteen years finally died. I walked past her and into the kitchen, but she followed me and reached for the spatula in my hand. “You’re in a bad mood today. I’ll cook.” I replied flatly, “How many times have you even stepped into the kitchen? Do you know how to cook?” As soon as I said that, Maya pulled her hand back. She asked angrily, “What’s gotten into you today?” I glanced at her and said heavily, “Liam came to my stall today.” “You used the fabric I bought for you to make clothes for him, didn’t you?”She froze, then asked cautiously, “Ethan, are you angry?” When I didn’t answer, she continued, “You know Liam and I have been close since we were kids.” “He came all the way here alone to find me. Of course I have to take good care of him.” “Don’t act like a child. Can’t you be a little more generous?” I was speechless. Was I not supposed to be angry? I had done everything I could to give her the best, and she had turned around and given it to someone else. When had she ever considered me? My clothes had been patched, worn out, and patched again. I had made do with them for half my life. Why had it never occurred to her to make a single outfit for me? I served the food onto plates and said calmly, “Wash your hands and eat.” Since her heart was with someone else, I didn’t want to say anything more. Maybe I should have realized long ago that she either took everything I did for granted or had become used to it. I pulled out a chair and started eating by myself. For the first time, I didn’t wait for her to pick up her fork before I began eating. Maya opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing. That night, she got into bed and said gently, “Ethan, you’ve worked hard today. Let me rub your shoulders.” With that, she placed her hands on my shoulders and began massaging them slowly. It was precisely this caring, gentle-wife act that had made me fall so deeply for her back then. When she was young, she always liked wearing that blue dress, with a small wildflower tucked into the ends of her hair, speaking in a soft voice. Her family was well-off, and she was a teacher at the school in town, beloved by both her students and their parents. Back then, everyone envied me for marrying such a wonderful woman. I had believed it too. But after Liam took her away from me again and again, I could no longer lie to myself. She loved me, but she loved Liam more. I turned around, removed her hands, and said flatly, “I’m tired. Let’s go to sleep.” Maya’s expression stiffened. She frowned and said unhappily, “How long are you going to keep this up?” “He has no family or friends here. I’m the only person he has. If I don’t take care of him, who will?” “We’ve known each other since we were kids. How can you be so heartless?” I lost my temper and retorted, “He’s a grown man in his thirties. Does he still need you to take care of him?” “Does he really see you as a friend? From where I’m standing, he treats you like his girlfriend!” Maya’s face flushed bright red. She pointed at me and cursed, “Ethan! What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” I let out a cold laugh and continued, “Maya, when you secretly quit my job at the steel mill for me, I thought you felt sorry for me.” “But it wasn’t until I heard Liam say it himself today that I realized you wanted to give my position to him.” “You knew exactly how much effort and hard work I had put into getting that job, yet you still gave it to him without hesitation. Tell me, who is your husband?” Maya froze. Clearly, she hadn’t expected me to know. She hurriedly defended herself, “That’s not what happened, Ethan.” “I only quit for you because I saw how exhausted you were from working two jobs every day.” “Liam couldn’t find a job after coming here, but he still had to survive, so I happened to introduce him to the steel mill.” As soon as she finished speaking, someone knocked on the door. Then Liam’s voice came from outside. “Maya! The light in my place is broken. I’m scared of the dark. Can you come help me fix it?”Maya looked conflicted. She bit her lip and said guiltily, “Ethan, wait here. I’ll be right back.” “He’s been afraid of the dark since he was a kid. I’ll go take a look with him.” Before I could respond, she hurriedly threw on her coat and ran outside. The door opened, and Liam pretended to be embarrassed as he said, “Maya, I came to bother you this late at night. Ethan won’t be angry, will he?” Maya replied softly, “Forget about him.” Her voice was very quiet, but I still heard her. A bitter ache spread through my heart as I silently watched her back. She didn’t look back at me even once, while Liam stared at me through the gap in the door with a smug smile. Just as I expected, Maya didn’t come back all night. Early the next morning, she tiptoed into the house and jumped when she saw me eating breakfast. She stammered, “You’re up so early today.” “What are you having for breakfast? Let me try some too.” I didn’t answer. I stuffed the last bun into my mouth. She froze for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh. When she saw that I was about to leave, she quickly picked up her bag and followed behind me. “I don’t have to go to work for a while. You don’t need to take me so early.” I stopped when I heard that, turned around, and said coldly, “I never said I was taking you. From now on, get to work and back on your own. I have other things to do.” Without paying any attention to her astonished expression, I turned around and left. When I reached town, I set up my stall and called out loudly to attract customers. A wealthy businessman who often visited my stall came over with a large wallet tucked under his arm, sat down on the stool, and asked curiously, “Why did you close up so early yesterday? I came looking for you, but I couldn’t find you.” I forced a stiff smile and answered helplessly, “Something came up at home.” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “I heard you used to work at the steel mill?” I nodded in surprise and sighed. “That’s right.” He looked disappointed. “You had a perfectly good job. Why did you quit and start shining shoes?” I didn’t answer. I simply polished his leather shoes in silence. He seemed to figure out most of the story and said, “To be honest, I own a steel mill too.” “I’m short-staffed right now. You seem like a good young man. Would you be interested in giving it a try?” “If you’re willing, come find me at Hayes Steelworks.” As soon as he finished speaking, Maya appeared from nowhere and loudly objected, “We’re not interested!” She walked over to me and put on a concerned expression. “Ethan, have you forgotten?” “The doctor said you were suffering from exhaustion and needed plenty of rest.” “And your... your leg still has an old injury. You can’t stand for too long.” At that, Maya lowered her head guiltily. That was because my leg had been injured when those thugs came to have their shoes shined. If she had been willing to call the police and save me, perhaps everything would have turned out differently. The businessman patted my shoulder regretfully. “I see. That’s a real shame.” With that, he left some cash behind and walked away. Maya snatched up the money before I could and said awkwardly, “Ethan, I know you might get angry, but I still have to tell you.” “Liam accidentally injured someone at the steel mill. If he doesn’t pay compensation, the man is going to call the police.” “He doesn’t have that much money, so I have to help him.”I laughed in disbelief when I heard that. I had wondered why she had suddenly come to visit me at my stall. It turned out she had only come for Liam. Shining shoes was a small business, and what I earned wasn’t even enough to pay for my leg treatment. I held back my tears and said hoarsely, “Maya, do you know what it means for you to take my money?” “It means I’m one step farther away from treating my leg.” “Do you want to see me become crippled?” “Besides, your family is pretty wealthy. Why don’t you use your own money? Why take mine?” Maya was left utterly humiliated by my words. “I...” She raised her head to look at me, her eyes turning red as tears slid down her cheeks. I froze. She had never cried for me before, yet at that moment, she was shedding tears for someone else. My voice went dry as I said, “Do whatever you want.” “But you took the money today. From now on, we...” Before I could finish, she grabbed the cash and ran away. I watched her back gradually disappear into the crowd. Then I lowered my head and let my tears fall. I used to say that men should bleed rather than cry, and that crying over a woman was pathetic. But now, I was being exactly that pathetic. As I thought back over our more than ten years of marriage, I couldn’t help wondering what I had actually gained. I thought about it for a long time, but couldn’t even come up with one excuse to deceive myself. That evening, I packed up my stall and slowly walked home. On the way, a gossip-loving neighbor said excitedly, “Did you hear? That young Liam bought a house!” An older woman beside her asked, “Which Liam?” The neighbor clapped her hands and answered excitedly, “Liam, of course!” “I heard Maya helped pay quite a bit too. The two of them went around looking at houses together, just like a married couple!” “Her parents even put up a lot of money. They completely treat him like their son-in-law. I’m so jealous!” “Do you think Maya regrets marrying Ethan? I feel like she and Liam look more like a couple.” After saying that, she laughed cheerfully, completely unaware that I was standing behind her. The hand holding my cloth bag loosened, and I stared at her in a daze. The women all turned to look at me at once, then hurriedly ran away. I clenched both hands and punched the tiled wall. The tiles cut my hand, and blood dripped down the wall. At that moment, I felt bitterly unwilling to accept it. Why was Maya willing to use money to buy Liam a house, but unwilling to use money to treat my leg? Back then, she had held me tightly and cried, “Ethan, believe me. I want to pay for your treatment too, but I really don’t have any money left.” “Prices have gone up, and what we have is barely enough to get by.” “As for my parents, you know how they are. They strongly opposed us from the beginning. If we ask them for money now, they’ll definitely use the chance to criticize you.” “We wouldn’t get the money, and we’d only be humiliated. I don’t want that.” “Can we wait a little longer? We’ll save up for your treatment. I promise I’ll get your leg healed.” I had believed her then. I had even thought that, despite my condition, she hadn’t abandoned me and had stayed by my side, so I had to cherish her even more. But now, I only felt like a fool. I had clearly been able to guess the truth, yet I had still chosen to believe her. At that moment, I finally let go. If we couldn’t be honest with each other and love each other wholeheartedly, then it was time for everything to end. It was time to put an end to my ridiculous, pitiful love.