Chapter 6
Chapter 6
After that day, He Xiuyuan and I fell into a complete cold war.
I moved back to my own home.
As He Xiuyuan had pointed out, I was a child from a single-parent household.
Before my father passed away, my mother had lived through a “widowed marriage” where her husband was never present, so she was unable to empathize with me.
When He Xiuyuan came here to pick me up, she couldn’t wait for me to go back with him.
“Xiao He has already offered you an olive branch; you should take it while you still can,” my mother urged me incessantly. “Don’t hide in your room. Get out there, now.”
I practically begged her: “Mom, just tell him to leave.”
“You’re pregnant! What are you still making a scene for? You have to swallow your pride on this one.”
“I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Marriage is about turning a blind eye.” She pulled back my duvet and met my bloodshot eyes, her tone softening slightly. “Besides, Xiao He didn’t actually cheat on you.”
That wasn’t it.
Emotional infidelity was far more terrifying than physical infidelity.
My voice was filled with a profound sorrow. “We’ve been together for three years. He lies next to me while thinking about another woman. What am I to him?”
“You just overthink things. Let me tell you right now: no matter how much you two fight, don’t even think about divorce. I can’t afford to lose face like that.”
This was the first time I had ever defied her. “I’m going to divorce him.”
My mother looked at me with a frustrated, disappointed expression. “When all is said and done, isn’t it just because you’re useless? If you were perfect in every way, I don’t believe for a second that Xiao He would still be pining for his ex.”
“Mom-” I interrupted her, breaking down. I covered my ears, wanting to block out every sound. “I’m begging you, stop talking. Please.”
An endless sense of grievance spread rapidly through my chest, crowding my eyes until they could no longer hold back the tears.
I wasn’t the one in the wrong.
Why was I the one being blamed?
Does the world have to be this absurd?