From Divorce to Forever

This was the ninth time I had discovered women's clothing in my husband Carl Wade's storage cabinet that didn't belong to me.

Each time, he brushed it off with excuses like "holding it for a colleague" or "a friend's prank," then hugged me tenderly and apologized.

This time, what I found was a set of baby clothes.

He still smiled and explained, "A new intern at the company is struggling financially. I'm just helping her out."

I nodded and gently straightened his tie.

"You're always so kind," I said. "Then let's go help her together right now."

The smile on his face froze.

Before he could come up with a new lie, I had already pulled him out the door and headed straight to the apartment across the hall.

I knocked on the neighbor's door.

The door opened, and our beautiful neighbor who had recently moved in and claimed to be single stood there holding a crying baby.

She wore the exact same style of dress that had appeared in my husband's storage cabinet before.

I smiled and looked at my husband's ashen face. "Honey, look how wonderful fate is. The intern you mentioned from the company turns out to live right across from us."

...

The refined and gentle expression on Carl's face could no longer hold.

His lips trembled, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Cara Payne across the hall held the child, her eyes darting around in panic, refusing to meet mine.

The cream-colored dress she wore was the same limited-edition brand as the one I had found in Carl's office cabinet.

The smile on my face deepened. "Why aren't you saying anything? Won't you invite us in to sit and offer some warmth to this struggling intern?"

My voice wasn't loud, but it pierced their ears like needles.

Carl suddenly snapped back to reality and grabbed my wrist with force that nearly crushed my bones.

"Leyla, stop this! We'll talk at home!" He lowered his voice, his tone carrying a mix of pleading and threat.

I ignored him, my gaze shifting past him to the wrinkled baby in Cara's arms. "How old is the child? He really looks like you, Carl."

Those words detonated the bomb.

Tears instantly streamed down Cara's face as she trembled holding the baby, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice. "Ms. Fuller, please don't misunderstand. There's nothing between Mr. Wade and me..."

"Nothing?" I interrupted her, smiling even brighter. "Nothing, and yet a child has been born? Carl, you're quite efficient."

Doors of surrounding neighbors creaked open a crack, and countless curious eyes turned toward us.

Carl's face turned ashen.

He yanked me toward our home. "Leyla! I told you to stop! Do you really want everyone to watch our family become a joke?"

I shook off his hand. "A joke?" "Ever since you moved her in across the hall and played out this neighbor drama every day, our family has already become the biggest joke!"

At that moment, a sharp voice echoed from the stairwell. "What are you all yelling about! Aren't you ashamed in the middle of the night!"

Jenny Wade, my mother-in-law, rushed out with an angry face.

She immediately spotted Cara at the door and the child in her arms.

Her expression shifted, but she quickly aimed her anger at me. "Leyla Fuller! What kind of tantrum are you throwing now! Yelling at a young girl like that—do you have any manners?"

She charged over and raised her hand to slap me without a word.

I looked at her coldly. "Do you know whose child she's holding?"

Jenny's hand froze in mid-air.

She glanced at me, then at Carl whose face had gone pale, and finally her eyes settled on the baby's face.

I watched her expression shift from anger to shock, and then to a barely noticeable gleam of mad joy.

She lowered her hand, cleared her throat, and surprisingly pulled Cara protectively to her side. "It's just a child! What's the big deal! Men, you know, everyone has a little fling outside sometimes. The key is that his heart is still at home!"

She glared at me, her words sending a chill through my body. "Besides, you've been married into our family for three years, and there's been no movement in your belly! Carl is just ensuring the family line continues! As the main wife, you need to have the grace to tolerate others! We'll take the child home and raise him ourselves. Then this matter is settled!"

I trembled with rage and nearly laughed out loud.

What wonderful "grace to tolerate others."

I looked at Carl, who kept his head down and refused to meet my eyes, silently agreeing with his mother.

I looked at Cara, who hid behind Jenny, a flash of triumph in her eyes.

So they had all conspired together long ago, just waiting for me as the official wife to nod and put on a show of harmonious wives and concubines.

I took a deep breath and suppressed the surging nausea in my heart. "Carl, let's get divorced."