One in the morning, Kevin did not come back. Bella was just waiting outside the living room door, holding her arms patiently. As time went by, her in-laws took turns to persuade her to go back to the house to rest, but she stubbornly waited until Kevin returned.
At two o’clock, she finally arrived at Kevin. Seeing the familiar lights coming straight to her, she finally let out a sigh and rushed to him. However, in the face of her ardent eyes, Kevin passed in front of her like a stranger.
Bella stood in the same place, sad, but still reluctantly comforted herself: It doesn’t matter. As long as he comes back, it doesn’t matter if he treats me as a stranger.
Compared to his disregard, she was actually more afraid he would never come back.
After a few days, Kevin had been ignoring Bella. During the day he was in the company. After returning at night, he shut himself in the study. He didn’t go to the bedroom until Bella fell asleep. Bella was clear that he was angry with her. In order to not let him work so late every night, even if she did not fall asleep, she also pretended to have fallen asleep early.
The thing she didn’t dare to face still came. One evening, the father-in-law came back from outside, handed her a stack of photos, and said sadly, “Bella, these are professional conception of women. You pick a suitable one. I will set the date.”
Bella took it with a shudder and looked through it woodenly. Thinking that one of these women would soon be in bed with her husband, Bella’s heart was bleeding.
“Have you chosen? Which is better?”
Patrick timidly asked. In fact, he knew that it was excessive to let his daughter-in-law look at these photos. But from the big picture, only his daughter-in-law could pick out a woman that satisfied his son.
“This one.”
Bella wasn’t in the mood to pick the photos, casually pulled out one and handed it to her father-in-law. Then, she went upstairs glumly.
After walking back and forth in her room a few times in the evening, she went downstairs and cooked a bowl of mung bean soup and brought it into the study. She hadn’t spoken to him for several days, leisurely looked at Kevin and said, “It’s hot. Drink some mung bean soup to cool down.”
Kevin ignored her, and she stood by the desk without moving.
“Just leave it on.”
Kevin indifferently said, without even looking up, meaning she could go out.
“Are you going to keep ignoring me?”
Bella finally couldn’t help it and ask sadly.
Kevin’s long eyelashes trembled lightly before he looked up to measure her, “I heard that you picked out a woman for me to go to bed with today.”
Her heart ached and she didn’t deny it, “Yes.”
“Then I’m relieved. The woman you picked should be very much to my liking, no matter what.”
Bella’s nails pinched into her flesh. It had become her habit. Every time when she was sad, she had to abuse herself like this. It wouldn’t hurt anyway.
“Get out. I’ve got work to do.”
She turned gloomily and took a heavy step out of his study. The moment she closed the door, clear tears fell down. But she quickly wiped them away with her hand.
There was no softness in the hard city, and life would not be amorous because of sorrow.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. In this half month, her father-in-law did not talk to her again about conception, she could not hold back, so she tactfully asked her mother-in-law, “Mom, has Dad arranged everything?”
Blanche looked at her daughter-in-law sadly, her eyes flickering as she shook her head, “It seems not yet.”
She was inexplicably relieved, so she stopped asking about this topic. Although she knew that it was something that could not be avoided, it might be better to stall so that she could feel better.
However, it never occurred to her that her father-in-law had actually made arrangements, but her mother-in-law wasn’t told for fear of her grief.
She still learned the truth from her sister-in-law.
That night, she waited for a log time in her room and Kevin didn’t return. She was anxious when the sound of footsteps came from outside her room. She ran over to open the door in surprise, but when she saw her sister-in-law standing outside the door, she revealed a look of disappointment.
“Sister-in-law, do you want me to accompany you tonight?”
Her sister-in-law looked at her sympathetically, and she wondered, “Why do I need you to stay with me?”
“You’re going to be so sad when my brother doesn’t come home tonight …”
“Where did he go and why he’s not coming back tonight?”
Lena then realized that she might have said something she shouldn’t have and asked in panic, “Didn’t anyone tell you?”
Bella had a bad feeling when she saw the panicked look in her sister-in-law’s eyes, “No, tell me what’s going on.”
“I …”
Lena was a little afraid.
“Lena, tell me. Please, just tell me, okay?”
Bella pressed urgently on her shoulder, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I accidentally overheard my parents’ conversation. My brother will have contact with that surrogate woman tonight at the Royal Hotel.”
As soon as Lena finished, Bella ran out. She ran all the way to the location that her sister-in-law said in tears. In front of a row of expensive cars, she saw Kevin’s car at a glance. She was suddenly nervous and she sat limply to the ground.
In front of her is the resplendent hall of the hotel. Even though she had no strength, she just stood up and walked to the hall step by step. Standing in the revolving door, she saw a familiar figure, which was her beloved husband Kevin. Next to her husband stood a beautiful young woman. She knew the woman, the surrogate she had chosen for him.
Kevin seemed to be registering for a room card. Bella looked at him blankly, but even forgot to come out of the revolving door, so she was turning and turning. Until Kevin led the woman disappeared in front of her, she panicked and wanted to call out to him when her hand retracted …
It had come to this. What was the use of her calling out to him? And wasn’t that what she hoped it would be?
She shouldn’t forget that it was she herself who had pushed Kevin to another woman.
The hotel’s security officer came over and reminded her, “Miss, are you coming in or going out?”
She bit her lip, took a final glance in the direction of Kevin’s disappearance, stepped out of the revolving door, and stood outside the hotel’s main gate. Standing against the starry sky, her heart was completely and utterly emptied …
She woodenly sat limply on the steps of the hotel. Her body was trembling violently, making her sick. She hugged herself tightly and pinched her nails into her flesh, but this time it hurt. It hurt very much. The pain wasn’t the arm that was pinched by the nails, but was the heart that was heavily damaged.
“Bella, hold on, it’ll be over soon. Don’t cry. Don’t think nonsense …”
She hugged her weak body and tried to comfort herself, “Just pretend he’s cheating on you once in a while. Be generous. Be strong. Don’t cry …”
The more she told herself not to cry, the more the tears fell down fiercely. Her lips were about to bleed as she bit her lips, but she still couldn’t stop weeping.
She held herself very tightly, as if it was the only way she could feel safe. Her forehead against the center of her arm, her shoulders were shaking as she sobbed.
“Is it someone I know?”
After crying for a long time, a familiar voice suddenly came from her ears, and she looked up in a daze, looking at the person sitting next to her, unable to believe her eyes.
“Why are you sitting here?”
Kevin questioned her coldly.
Only then did she come back to her senses and quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes, not wanting him to see her be messed up, “I happened to pass by here. Do you … finish so soon?”
“Yes.”
Kevin nodded calmly, and Bella’s heart began to ach again. She had finally let his man to sleep with another woman.
“I have something else to do. I’m leaving.”
She stood up helplessly, not wanting to cry in front of Kevin’s chi, and walked down the steps in a panic, resulting in missing her footing. But when she thought she would definitely fall in a mess, a strong arm promptly assisted her.
“Is it okay? Is it okay to see me disappear with another woman right in front of your eyes? It really doesn’t matter at all to hear that I’m already sleeping with the woman you picked?”
Faced with Kevin’s questioning, Bella could only turn her back to him and silently weep.
How could she be okay? But no one would care her feelings.
“I’ll see you at home.”
Bella slowly turned around and shook off Kevin’s hand that was supporting her arm.
“Nothing happened. Nothing happened to that woman and me.”
Kevin muttered to her back. Bella was suddenly startled. She stopped her pace and turned around to look at him in shock, wanting to speak, but felt like something was sticking in her throat, she couldn’t say anything.
“Despite seeing you standing in the revolving door in tears from the very beginning, and wanting to make you sad for once, there is still no way to sleep with a woman other than you. Bella, you listen to me clearly. I can’t have sex with another woman. Even if you threat me with divorce, I won’t agree to such a ridiculous proposal again! ”
Bella was deeply shocked. She stretched out her arms and threw herself into Kevin’s arms, crying hysterically, “Kevin, thank you for your loyalty to me. I’m actually very sad. I thought I could endure it, but after seeing that you really disappeared from my eyes with another woman, I realized that I’m not as strong as I thought. I actually can’t endure it at all …”
“You are a fool. It is unbearable for any woman. You won’t find a more foolish woman in the whole world to send her husband to another woman’s bed than you.”
“I don’t want to. I actually feel painful making that choice, but you know how helpless I am. I really can’t help it …”
Kevin kissed her forehead heartily, “I understand, so even though I hate you to death, I still don’t want to betray you.”
“I’m sorry. Kevin, I’m sorry …”
Bella cried and apologized. She was not weak, but life had pushed her to a desperate situation, wearing out the last of her toughness.
“Let’s face all future difficulties together …”
Kevin said sorrowfully. Bella nodded heavily. People always understand the preciousness of having after loss, and it was only after experiencing this heart-destroying pain again that she understood that she couldn’t swallow insult and humiliation silently in love, and nor did marriage.
“And don’t ever walk past me again like a stranger.”
Bella leaned against Kevin’s chest and protested grievously in the same heavy tone of voice.
Kevin nodded, pressed her shoulders so that he could look directly at herself, and said solemnly, “I won’t walk past you like a stranger again, nor will I ignore you for half a month. But from now on, you have to learn how to refuse and reject all unreasonable demands. No matter who the person making the request is, you don’t have to respond to the request, and you don’t have to feel sorry for anyone. There is no one that you feel sorry for, and there is only someone who has failed you. You don’t have to care about anyone else’s feelings when no one else cares about yours.”
“Okay!”
Kevin’s words rekindled hope and confidence in Bella’s heart, and after embracing again, they held hands and walked under the warm yellow street lights, leaving this sad place step by step.
No matter how many difficulties awaited them in the future, this moment of spiritual connection was destined that they would help each other in distress in their future hand in hand.