Chapter 11
What else could I say? Since my mother-in-law already said she was a cousin, what more could I possibly argue? I could only drop it and leave the room. As I walked out, I turned back again to look at the thick, tightly drawn curtains. Suddenly I remembered how on the morning after our wedding, Yu Jin had forcefully pulled the curtains open without a word, and I couldn’t help feeling something was strange.
Using the excuse that I supposedly had an infectious disease, my mother-in-law hurried to drive me away. Honestly, I didn’t want to stay there anyway, but I still pretended to be reluctant when I left. Just as I was walking out, I heard her mutter while closing the door: “A bringer of bad luck.”
The high heels and scented pouch that were by the door were gone too. If those things really belonged to the “cousin” like she said, then why bother hiding them?
There was definitely something fishy here. I may not want to be overly clever, but I also don’t want to be played like a fool. I stayed downstairs nearby for a while longer. From a distance, I saw a woman coming down the stairs, and she was wearing those exact same high heels. But it was too far away for me to clearly see her face.
Still, I already had a vague idea in my heart, and I felt utterly ridiculous. I turned around, thinking of the white stains on the bed, the tightly drawn curtains, and the underwear in the wardrobe.
I clenched my fists so hard my nails felt like they were digging into my flesh. I tilted my head up, blinking hard, then stood up, nearly fainting. Ever since I hit my head on the wedding day, I often felt dizzy. I thought I really needed to rest.
That feeling stayed with me all the way back to my rented apartment. I was lying on the bed when I received a call from Tang Li. When I saw his name appear on the screen, I froze for a moment, thinking I had misread it. But then I really heard his voice:
“Shuangshuang?”
“T-Tang… Tang Li?” I stammered his name, completely at a loss.
“Mm, it’s me.” His voice was still as gentle as ever. “Shuangshuang, have you been doing well lately?”
I… I haven’t been well at all. Not at all.
But when the words reached my lips, all I managed to say was, “Pretty good.” As soon as I said it, my nose stung with sudden sourness, but I pretended nothing was wrong and continued, “It’s rare for you to contact me. What’s up?”
“Oh, as long as you’re doing well, that’s good. It’s nothing much.” He paused, then said, “Next week is the class reunion. Are you coming?”
“The class reunion?” I scratched my head. “We haven’t even been graduated that long, have we? A reunion already?”
“What do you mean ‘not that long’? It’s already been five years.”
“Huh? That fast…?”
“You’ve skipped it for the past few years already. If you don’t come again this year, they might just kick you out of the group chat,” he joked. I could practically picture the faint smile at the corner of his lips.
“Alright, alright, I’ll definitely come this time. Send me the time and place.” I agreed, and cheerful laughter came from the other end. He laughed and replied, “Okay then, see you there.”
After we broke up, Tang Li never contacted me again. Back then, because his mother disapproved of me, she forced me to leave him. After that, I never received another call from him—not even a holiday greeting. And now he suddenly appeared again, catching me completely off guard. But all I could do was accept that some people can only belong to the past.
Two days later, my mother-in-law called and asked when my “infectious disease” would be cured. I thought about it—there was no way I was ever going to touch that disgusting man Yu Jin again. Even if I somehow forgave what he did to me on our wedding night, I could never forgive what he did with that woman.
