On Our Fifth Wedding Anniversary, I Sent a Carnival Gift to My Wife and Her Male Best Friend’s Livestream

It had been a full week since our wedding anniversary before Susan finally came home. She flopped lazily onto the couch and didn’t even look at me. “That slap was me teaching you not to talk nonsense from now on. Who even teaches people these days? You should know how to be grateful.” I said nothing, only found it ridiculous. Susan really was good at manipulating me. If this had been before, I would have only thought she loved me. If she didn’t love me, why would she only manipulate me and not other people? Only now did I finally understand. It turned out I was the only idiot here. A week ago was the fifth wedding anniversary of Susan and me. She had once lain in my arms and told me she wanted a grand, happy, enviable anniversary. So I started arranging the venue six months in advance. Even the guests were carefully chosen by me. I had imagined the happy smile on her face when she arrived, but she gave me a loud slap instead. On the big screen at our anniversary party, what played was not the happy memories between her and me, but her steamy bath with her male best friend, Eric. How ridiculous. Seeing that I still wasn’t talking, Susan threw a high heel at me. I couldn’t dodge in time, and it hit the bridge of my nose. Blood poured down at once. And because my stomach pain flared up, I couldn’t even stand up straight. “What kind of melodrama are you playing?” Susan looked annoyed. She walked over, then stepped back a few paces in surprise when she saw how pale I looked. “Not feeling well?” “Are you an idiot? If you’re not feeling well, why didn’t you say something? Standing there like a wooden post, completely useless.” “The blood is dirty. Pay attention and don’t get it on the floor.” As she spoke, she tossed me a few tissues with a smile. Only after I wiped myself clean did I finally say: “Sorry.” As soon as I said that, Susan froze, and the smile on her face faded a little. “Why are you being so polite?” “I was joking just now. I didn’t really mean to disgust you.” “Are you mad?” Susan seemed a little nervous. It was rare for her to be nervous around me. If this had been before, I would have been flattered, and I would have told her I would never be angry at her. But now, I didn’t want to say anything. “I know.” My stomach hurt so badly that I could barely bear it. I turned to leave, but Susan grabbed me. I lost my balance, and we both fell. Instinctively, I ended up underneath her. Susan let out a soft laugh. “See? You still know how to protect me.” I didn’t answer. My vision blurred for a moment, and even breathing became hard. Only then did Susan realize something was wrong with me, and she hurriedly called a family doctor. Right then, Eric’s call came in too. “Susan, I think my blood sugar is low. I feel awful.” When Susan heard that, her eyes filled with worry. While putting on her shoes, she said to me: “You’re probably just tired. It’s nothing serious. I’ve already had the family doctor go take care of my brother first.” “Susan, I…” My survival instinct made me grab her pant leg, but she kicked me away. “You’ve really been unreasonable lately.” Hearing that, I knew I couldn’t count on her anymore. I struggled to open my eyes and reached for my phone that had fallen on the floor, forcing myself through the pain to pick it up, but the next second, Susan stepped on the back of my hand. “I can tell you’re feeling bad because you’ve been on your phone too much.” “Get some rest. I’m taking your phone with me.”It was Susan’s driver who took me to the hospital. He had come to the house to pick up something for Susan, only to find me sprawled on the floor with no movement. The doctor said that if I had arrived half an hour later, I would have died. I stayed in the hospital for two days, and she never asked about me even once. After I was discharged, Susan happened to come back too. “The driver said you were sick, so you should eat light food. I brought this especially for you.” “Try it.” I didn’t take it. She frowned slightly. “Are you blaming me for not visiting you?” “Honey, don’t be so petty. My brother wasn’t feeling well, so I had to take care of him. You know that.” I took a deep breath. “Susan, does low blood sugar need two days of care?” “Or maybe, as a doctor, you don’t know that acute gastroenteritis can kill someone?” Even though I had told myself countless times not to care about her anymore, after so many years together, I still couldn’t help wanting to get a little justice for myself. I thought she would at least feel a little guilty. But all she did was act spoiled toward me. “I’m sorry, honey. I was wrong. Please don’t be mad, okay?” “I made this myself. Try it?” As she spoke, she opened the lunch box, and an indescribable smell hit me. I looked at Susan’s serious expression. There was not a trace of guilt or unease in her eyes. I couldn’t help feeling a sting in my nose. “Susan, isn’t this the dog food you made for Eric’s dog?” “Am I the dog? Or am I even less than a dog in your eyes?” Before she came back, I had just seen Eric’s post on Ins. Susan was in the kitchen, watching a video and learning how to make dog food, and the two of them looked very close. His dog was also lying on the floor with eager anticipation. The caption was: [This is Susan’s first time making dog food. I’m scared it might be poisonous. Does anyone want to test it for my dog?] [Much appreciated.] And clearly, I was the one testing it. Realizing that I knew the truth, I thought Susan would feel guilty. Instead, she didn’t even bother pretending anymore. She threw the lunch box onto the table. “It was all made by me. What difference does it make?” “My brother’s dog is weak. What’s wrong with you trying it for him? You don’t look down on it just because it’s a dog, do you?” “We’re all animals. What makes you think you’re any more noble than that?” With that, Susan shoved me. Before I could react, she quickly opened the box and poured the soup inside into my mouth. A sticky, disgusting taste filled my throat. I suddenly shoved Susan away. She screamed, and her head hit the table. The pressure was gone. I took a deep breath and spat everything out. Just as I was about to go to the bathroom to clean up, Susan looked at me with a hurt expression. “You hit me!” “Michael, you promised you’d never lay a hand on me.” I stared at her in a daze. I really had said that. When Susan agreed to be with me at the lowest point in my life, I secretly swore that I would give her a good life. So over the years, I worked hard without stopping for a single second. Outside of work, I treated her like a princess. I had never said a harsh word to her. But I discovered that people are just pathetic like that. I spat out the stuff in my mouth. “Susan, I just realized something now. The moment a promise is spoken, it’s sincere.” “But once you fail to keep it, that means you don’t love me anymore.”I didn’t look at her shocked expression, and without even changing my clothes, I grabbed a random jacket. I turned and left. Susan came to pull me back, but I shook her off. Maybe those two refusals had humiliated her, because her tension turned into anger. “Ha, even a man is using the act-hard-to-get game. Michael, aren’t you disgusting?” “You’re an orphan and you’re playing runaway from home? How childish.” “I’m warning you. If you step one foot out that door today, don’t ever come back.” I ignored her shouting and left without looking back. But still... I was a little sad. Back then, Susan’s parents didn’t want her to marry far away. So I followed Susan from my hometown, City J, to City H. And over the years, I had been busy with business, and when I wasn’t working, I poured all my attention into Susan. I really had no friends who could take me in, and that was exactly why Susan had been so reckless. But I did have a friend who would travel thousands of miles for me. When I got off the plane, Simon looked exhausted and windblown, with his hair messy. He didn’t look at all like a rising business star. After I told him what happened between Susan and me. He patted my shoulder and drove me to a hotel. Then he immediately went to prepare dinner for me. When I woke up the next morning, Susan had sent me a message. It was a photo of breakfast with most of it uneaten, along with a line of text. [The food the maid made isn’t as good as yours.] I turned off my phone and kept chatting with Simon. Simon sighed. “You really spoiled Susan too much over the years. It’s good to cool her off for a few days now.” I wiped my mouth and folded my hands together. “I don’t want this anymore. I want a divorce.” Simon’s expression turned serious. “Are you sure you won’t regret it?” I had once fought with Susan and said I wanted a divorce, only to regret it the very next day. With that kind of history, it made sense that Simon wasn’t reassured. Just as I was about to speak, my phone rang.