Ten Mystery Boxes to End Our Ten-Year Marriage

On our tenth wedding anniversary, in front of all our friends and family, I gave Julian ten mystery boxes. He smiled and opened the first one.

Inside was a lace nightgown stained with a glistening liquid.

Our friends immediately erupted into suggestive laughter. "Julian, you and Elena really don't treat us like outsiders." "No need to share your bedroom secrets with us!" The room burst into laughter.

Julian froze. I smiled and gestured for him to open the second one. Inside was an ultrasound report showing three weeks of pregnancy. "Wow!

Elena, you're pregnant!" A friend squealed in surprise and patted Julian on the shoulder. "Congrats, Julian! You're going to be a dad!" Julian's face went pale.

He mumbled, unable to squeeze out a single word.

But I just smiled casually, holding the ultrasound right in front of his face. "Too bad the name on this ultrasound doesn't seem to be mine." The laughter died instantly.

Our friends tried to scramble for an explanation. "Elena, there must be some mistake.

Julian rejected every girl who threw themselves at him just to be with you." "To marry you, he even cut ties with his own father and struggled with you through ten years of hard times." "There's no way he would betray you..." Before they could finish, a photo of Julian lying naked in bed with another woman slapped them right in the face.

While they were busy scrambling for excuses, I had already opened the rest of the mystery boxes. The photos came out one after another.

They fell dead silent, unable to believe that the seemingly devoted Julian had been cheating for five years and even had a child on the way. Their reaction didn't surprise me.

It had taken me a whole year to go from disbelief to heartbreak to acceptance to numbness. And finally, to calmly laying out the evidence of his betrayal today.

I still remember the day I had a high fever, dizzy and vomiting, begging him to take me to the hospital.

I forced myself to stay awake and called him over ten times before he finally picked up. "Julian, my head hurts so bad.

Can you take the day off to stay with me?" It was very noisy on his end. His voice was low, as if he were hiding from someone. "Elena, my department has a teambuilding event today.

I ordered some cold medicine to be delivered to you. It'll be there soon." "Julian..." A female voice came through the phone before I could ask further, and he hung up.

Even after taking the medicine, I still felt awful. Dragging my exhausted body, I went to the hospital alone.

And there, I saw my husband, the one who was supposedly at a teambuilding event, holding a pregnant woman.

I wanted so badly to lie to myself, to believe it was just a misunderstanding. But the next second, Julian leaned down and kissed her passionately. I knew that woman.

She was Chloe, the intern Julian had been mentoring. When she first started, Julian used to complain to me about her. "We got a really dumb intern today.

She couldn't even figure out the printer and wasted half the day on it instead of just asking." "She doesn't know how to format a Word document or use Excel formulas.

I have to teach her everything stepbystep." He would wrap his arms around my waist, burying his face in my neck and taking a deep breath. "She's the reason I had to work late and kept you waiting for so long." I had smiled and told him to be patient with the newcomer.

He was patient, all right. So patient that he took her to bed. When did his attitude change? It was on my birthday.

He worked late into the night again, and I casually teased him. "Did that clumsy intern of yours keep you late again?" He frowned, his tone suddenly cold and serious. "Elena, I know you graduated from an Ivy League school, and Chloe isn't as smart as you.

But you shouldn't look down on other people's hard work and dedication." "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep." The smile froze on my face. I sat in the living room alone.

The candles on the cake burned down and went out. The cream melted slowly, dripping onto the table and then the floor. My tears ran down my cheeks until they dried up completely.

It wasn't that I hadn't noticed his strange behavior. I just trusted him too much, so I subconsciously chose to ignore the signs. I reached out and opened the eighth mystery box...

Julian grabbed my hand, letting out a helpless sigh. He pulled a luxury designer bag from behind his back. "Elena, happy anniversary.

This is the bag you've wanted for a long time." "I always remember what you like." I stared at the bag. It felt incredibly ironic and pathetic.

It was exactly the same bag Chloe had posted on her Instagram a year ago.

The scratch on the leather was from when they couldn't wait to get physical and scraped it against the corner of a table.

I knocked the bag to the floor, looking at him with none of the affection I used to have. "Julian, I don't like secondhand trash." I have an emotional dependency on loyalty; betrayal is the one thing I hate most in this life.

I could never forget my mother lying on her deathbed while my father was out with another woman. His affair completely broke my mother's will to live.

Back then, I swore that the man I married would belong to me, body and soul. If he got dirty, I didn't want him anymore. Julian's face darkened.

As a rich kid playing at living a normal life, he had never had much patience. "Elena, can you grow up?

The bag might be preowned, but I worked overtime for a month just to buy it for you." "You've become so materialistic." Was I the one who changed, or was he just angry because his lie had been exposed?

How could a man lie with such earnest eyes?

If I hadn't taken a parttime job at a restaurant just to buy him a cashmere shirt, I wouldn't have seen him walking into a highend restaurant with his arms around Chloe.

Before that, I was still worrying about whether his skin would break out from cheap fabrics. His phone vibrated frantically. No doubt it was Chloe.

I set the mystery box down, walked to the private booth next door, and dragged Chloe out. Her face was smug, her eyes full of provocation.

Julian's way of loving someone was simple: he wanted to see them and cling to them all the time.

He was the kind of restless guy who hated studying, yet he once stared at me in the library for an entire day.

Our friends used to tease him, calling him a "wifeobsessed maniac." He would smile brightly, looking incredibly proud. "My Elena is so amazing.

If I don't keep an eye on her, someone else might steal her away." "Not only will I look at her every day, but after we get married, I want to look at her twentyfour hours a day, for the rest of my life." So when he fell in love with Chloe, he bought an apartment right next door to hers just so he could see her more often.

When he was with me, he would stare at his phone and giggle. He shared all his joys and sorrows with her, chatting from morning till night.

Even when he went downstairs to throw out the trash, he would take a detour past her place just to see her.

Even on our wedding anniversary, he arranged for Chloe to be in the booth next door so he could slip away to be with her whenever he found an excuse.

Under everyone's gaze, I opened the eighth mystery box. Inside was an appointment for an abortion scheduled for tomorrow.

Julian panicked, shielding Chloe behind him and taking all the blame on himself. "Elena, she and the baby are innocent.

I lied to her." Unmutilated, I calmly pushed the appointment slip in front of him. "Get rid of the baby and promise never to see her again, and I'll give us another chance." Julian looked down, slowly letting go of Chloe's hand.

He took the slip.

The air was silent, the atmosphere incredibly awkward. A friend tried to break the tension. "Elena, Julian still loves you the most.

Anyone else is just a passing phase." Chloe's eyes were red from crying, and Julian gently wiped her tears. He pulled her into his arms, patting her back to comfort her.

Then, in front of everyone, he ripped the appointment slip to shreds. "Elena, she needs me." I thought I wouldn't feel pain anymore, but my throat tightened and my eyes stung.

I turned my back and looked up, forcing the tears back. Composing myself, I turned around with a bright smile. "Fine.

Let's get a divorce then." Julian's pupils dilated, and he froze. He thought I would just endure it.

After all, in the eyes of the wealthy, marriage was just a transaction of interests. And he knew I loved him. A flicker of reluctance showed in his eyes.

He stepped forward and grabbed my hand to stop me. "Elena, we don't have to go this far.

If we divorce, you'll have nothing." "You're not the popular college belle everyone chased after anymore.

In your thirties, you won't find anyone better than me." "Besides, I still love..." I interrupted him impatiently. "Stop lying.

You've been lying to me from the very beginning." "If you really loved me, why did you never tell me that you made peace with your father long ago?" "Did you enjoy watching me humble myself to please your parents?

Did you find it funny?" For ten years, I had lived in guilt, believing I was the reason he broke ties with his family.

Every holiday, I racked my brain to pick out the perfect gifts, walking on eggshells to please his parents. But what did he do?

He watched from his high horse as his father rejected me to my face, enjoying my embarrassment and the humiliation they heaped on me. Julian was speechless.

He had always thought he kept it a secret. But he didn't expect me to know everything. Indeed, when did I stop smiling? When did I start hating his touch and his closeness?

Everything had left a trail. If he were still the twentyyearold Julian, he would have noticed in an instant.

I handed him the ninth mystery box, rubbing my temples tiredly. "Open it." He seemed to guess what it was. His hands trembled, and he didn't dare to open it.

Chloe excitedly snatched it and tore it open. Seeing the words "Divorce Agreement," her eyes lit up.

She had waited so long for this day. "Julian, now I can finally be with you openly!" "Sign it, and you'll be free." She turned to look at me, crossing her arms with a smug, arrogant expression. "Old woman, Julian is finally rid of you." She took a step closer and whispered in my ear, her words dripping with venom. "Julian said you smell like an old person.

It's disgusting." "You should really work out. Your skin is so saggy.

Julian said every time he touches you, it feels like touching rotting meat." "You saw that underwear behind our wedding photo, right?

Julian said every time he slept with you, he stared at it and pictured me just to get through it." Without blinking, I grabbed a wine bottle from the table and smashed it over her head.

The wine poured down her body, sticky and disgusting. She could no longer maintain her elegant act.

She wailed loudly, burying herself in Julian's arms. "Julian, my stomach hurts so bad!

She's trying to kill me and the baby!" "You have to avenge me!" Blood trickled from her forehead, staining Julian's sleeve.

His brow furrowed slightly, but then he scooped Chloe up in his arms. "Stop acting crazy.

I'm taking her to the hospital." "Julian, we'll talk about the divorce later." I stood in front of him, refusing to budge an inch. "Sign it." His face was incredibly dark, his voice cold and hard. "Do you really have to push me this far?" My silence was his answer.

He glared at me, his Adam's apple bobbing, and snatched the pen. He scribbled his name on the agreement, pressing so hard he almost ripped the paper.

As soon as he finished the last stroke, he threw the pen onto the table and turned to leave. In his arms, Chloe covered her mouth, her eyes crinkling with a smug smile.

I smiled too. As the clock struck midnight, my tenyear marriage came to an end. I closed my eyes and whispered to my twentyyearold self. "I'm sorry.

To the girl whose eyes were once filled only with him... I loved the wrong person." When I opened my eyes again, I was smiling. "It's okay. I'm only thirty.

Starting over is still in time." Feeling at peace, I opened the last mystery box.

Inside was my own pregnancy report and an appointment for an abortion tomorrow. I gently stroked my flat stomach, feeling the tiny life that hadn't even fully formed yet.

I'm sorry, my baby. While I was drafting a sick leave request, I received a termination notice from my company. I frowned, utterly confused.

I had worked diligently, always exceeding my targets. There was absolutely no reason for the company to fire me.

Anxiously, I called my manager, who stammered over the phone. "Elena, I don't really know either." "Sigh... just think about who you might have offended recently." This job was crucial to me.

Julian had always been a high spender. He insisted on taking cabs everywhere, wearing cashmere and silk, and eating fresh imported fruit. Our salaries barely left any savings.

Now that I was getting a divorce and having an abortion, I had no extra money to spare. He was so heartless. I kicked open the hospital room door with a loud bang.

Julian merely looked up, a familiar smug smirk playing on his lips. His voice was lazy and arrogant. "Elena, you regret it in less than a day?" My chest heaved with anger.

Before I could speak, he stood up and walked over. He reached out naturally to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

I slapped his hand away without mercy. "What right do you have to get me fired?" He smiled indifferently. "It's nothing. Just making you pay for hitting Chloe yesterday.

Your boss is a close friend of my father's. I just mentioned it casually." "Elena, apologize to her, and we can put this behind us." I clenched my fists.

Chloe, sitting on the hospital bed, raised an eyebrow. "Elena, you broke my head open. Why don't you get down on your knees and beg me?

Bow three times." "Then post a public apology online." I let out a cold laugh. "I've only ever heard of the mistress kneeling to apologize to the wife.

Miss Chloe, you should apologize to me first." Before leaving, I glanced at Julian. "The divorce application has been submitted.

Remember to show up in a month." I borrowed some money from friends I knew well. If I could just get through this month, I could find a job next month and pay them back.

Everything was about to end. Lying on the cold operating table, a sharp pain shot through my lower body. I could clearly feel the baby being torn from my body.

Tears spilled from the corners of my eyes, dripping onto the cold metal table. My consciousness began to fade. My memories drifted back to the autumn day I first met Julian.

I was reading a book under a maple tree when he suddenly dropped from the sky. Maple leaves fluttered down, looking just like the meeting of a lead couple in a romance drama.

I looked at him in surprise. "Climbing trees is against school rules.

You broke the rules." He repeated my words mockingly, a mischievous grin on his face. "What, are you going to tell on me?" Unsurprisingly, he was given a warning by the school.

His father cut off his last source of income. When I met him again, his initial arrogance was completely gone. He meekly followed behind me, step by step.

His voice sounded muffled and pitiful. "You have to take responsibility for me. I'm starving to death because of you." Actually, I had heard of him around campus long ago.

The only son of the Vance Group, a golden boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His parents were strict and had mapped out his entire life from a young age.

But he was born a rebel. He refused to go abroad to study finance as his parents wished.

So, his parents cut off all his allowance, leaving him with only a thousand dollars a month for living expenses. Anything more, he had to earn himself.

And now, even that thousand dollars was gone. Looking at his pitiful face, I wanted to laugh. "I'll buy you dinner." From that day on, he clung to me.

Even when I explained that I wasn't the one who reported him, he earnestly claimed he believed me.

On graduation day, he made a kite out of maple leaves, with a ring tied to the end of the string.

He proposed to me. "Elena, back then, I reported myself just to find an excuse to get close to you." He gently slipped the ring onto my ring finger. "Elena, the first time I saw you, I knew you were the only one for me." "If I'm a kite with no direction, you're the string holding onto me." "I will never slip out of your hands." My mind grew hazier, and the piercing beep of the heart monitor rang in my ears. "The patient is hemorrhaging!

Contact her family immediately!"