BACK OFF EX-HUSBAND, I'M MARRIED TO YOUR RIVAL NOW.

I felt relieved after talking to Alice. I was surprised how easily the words had come out of my mouth. Maybe it was because the hatred and resentment I had for Richard had been building up in my heart for so long.

No one will believe it, but after five years of marriage, I’m still a virgin. Just like Richard said that night, he had not for once touched me throughout our marriage.

He had shown me his impotence results, and even begged me to keep it a secret for him. I had even gone out of my way to source medicine to cure him. Until the night I had caught him in his study jerking off while clutching a photo. The low moans he had made, each of them felt like a big slap to my face.

When he realized I had seen him, he pulled me into his arms and muttered in my ear. “I’m sorry, honey, I was trying to see if the treatments are working. I didn’t want to raise your expectations, so I was using your photos instead.”

What a fool I was, and I had believed his lies. I was happy with him that he was making progress.

But the night I flew back to Northvale, I was looking for any painkillers to calm my fever. I remembered the cabinet in Richard’s study where his medications were stored. He had forbidden me from coming close to that particular cabinet; he said he doesn’t want me to mix up his medications.

I had used the little strength I had to open the cabinet, desperately searching for painkillers to relieve me of the cold. But instead of medications, I found a photo album of Lillian. Every page was filled with Lillian’s photos. But one picture stood out. It was a naked photo of Lillian while she was pregnant with her daughter.

The album slipped out of my hands. It was worse than I had thought. I felt like a joke. Richard had been deceiving me all this while. He was not impotent, he was saving himself for Lillian, his true love. There were toilet paper filled with dried sperm inside the waste bin.

I hadn’t expected Alice to show up so fast. I had just finished dressing and hadn’t even made it downstairs when the doorbell rang.

“Where is that bastard?” Alice asked immediately as I opened the door for her. The look on her eyes was the look of determination. “The divorce must happen today.”

I had felt a little relieved when Alice handed me the already prepared divorce papers. I was going through them when a sharp crack echoed through the house.

Before I could react, one of the maids rushed down the stairs with a worried look on her face. “Mrs. Gates?”

“What is it?” I asked weakly.

“Ayesha broke the wedding photo frame in your bedroom.”

I waved her off. I assumed it was just the photo frame—that can be fixed, not that it matters anymore. But the maid handed me the pieces, and my face went pale. It was just the wedding photos that were torn in pieces, but my parents' pictures too. The only pictures I had of them after they disowned me.

I clutched the torn photo and stormed upstairs. Lillian was stepping out of her room with Ayesha in her arms. She had this challenging smile on her face.

“Lillian, why did you let your daughter into my room?” I asked her in an icy tone.

“Uncle Richard said this house belongs to me now,” Ayesha said in her tiny voice with pride.

“Uncle Richard said he’s going to take care of me and Mommy like a real dad.”

I looked at Lillian, who showed no remorse or even signs of correcting her daughter. Instead, she patted her daughter’s head proudly before finally speaking up.

“Ayesha, stop pestering your Aunt Fiona,” Lillian said to her daughter, smiling. The little girl shrugged her shoulders.

“Mom, I’m telling the truth. Uncle Richard said this house belongs to us, and she’s the stranger here.”

Alice was already seething with anger. She wanted to say something, but I nodded at her to keep quiet. Then I crouched down a little and looked Ayesha in the eyes.

“If I ever see you in my room again, I will cut off your hands and legs,” I said coldly.

Ayesha burst into tears and clung to her mother's legs.

Lillian glared at me. “Why do you have to do that? She’s just a child. Why do you have to scare her so much like that?”

I glared back at her. “You and your ill-mannered daughter should stay away from my room. I don’t care what Richard has promised the two of you, but stay away from my room.” I didn’t wait for her to reply; I just turned and walked away.

That night, I watched as Richard drove into the driveway. As he got out of the black Rolls Royce, Ayesha ran to him, dragging Lillian along with her. The three of them hugged; they looked like a perfect family of three.

Finally, Richard came inside the room. He was looking very angry, but I couldn't care less.

“You scared Ayesha? You threatened to chop off her hands and legs? What is wrong with you? She’s just a child.”

“I did,” I said, gesturing toward the empty wall where our wedding photo and my parents' photo once stood. “She destroyed the pictures.”

Richard froze; his eyes softened. He reached out to ruffle my hair, but I stepped back. I didn’t want him to touch me with the same hand he had just touched his mistress.

“I’m sorry, honey. Let me apologize on her behalf. Tell me what you want; I will make it up to you.”

“Anything at all?” I asked, smiling faintly.

“Yes, honey, anything. Just mention it.”

“What I want is very simple.” I handed him the divorce papers. “Sign these documents for me.”

“Just that?” Richard asked as he collected the documents from me and signed them without hesitation. He flipped through the pages and signed them quickly, then handed the documents back to me.

Afterward, he let out a slow breath and gently pulled me into his arms for a hug. I did not object anymore; I had gotten what I wanted.

“You are the best wife ever. You are so sensible and obedient.”

I suddenly felt a wave of nausea. Just as I was about to push him away, there was a knock on the door.

Richard released me immediately when he saw who it was. And in that moment, everything clicked. He had gone five years without touching me just to stay loyal to Lillian, the woman he truly loved. Now they were living under the same roof, and he had to restrain himself.

Lillian looked angry but pretended to smile. “Richard, Ayesha wants you to read her a bedtime story.”

“Sure, I’m coming with you right now.” Then he turned to me. “Honey, I will be back in a minute.”

“Go ahead,” I said flatly.

After he left, I looked at the divorce papers he had just signed unknowingly. Yes, I was obedient. I had prepared the divorce papers myself and handed them right to him as the obedient wife that I was.