Part 1The Cuckold's Certificate

Two days before our planned wedding, Victoria left me stranded on a winding mountain road to pick up Blake, her male assistant, for a celebration dinner. When my car plummeted off the cliff during the crash, she was busy having a heated tryst with Blake in her own car. My desperate calls for help, dozens of them, met with a busy signal, drowned out by their ecstatic cries.

When I was rushed to the ER, I begged the nurse to inform her. But on the other end of the line, Victoria raged, "Tell him to call me when he's dead! If he's not dead, leave me alone! Always causing trouble, day in and day out!"

The moment I closed my eyes, my heart turned to ash.

The first thing I did after waking from surgery was cancel our wedding registration.

"Alex, where the hell are you?! I've been waiting at City Hall for ten minutes!" Victoria's voice, blazing with fury, screamed through the phone.

"I was in a car accident. I'm at the hospital."

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I canceled our wedding."

Every breath tasted of antiseptic, and my entire body ached as if it had been put through a meat grinder. A long silence hung on the other end.

"Well, then, let's not register for now."

Her casual tone, delivering the most cutting words, instantly froze me.

"Good timing, actually. I'm taking the staff on a trip this long weekend."

She hung up before I could even respond. I stared at the disconnected call, a chill spreading through me. Not a single word of concern, not a single apology. As if I were just some ordinary stranger. Ten years of devotion, poured down the drain. I had loved the wrong person.

I was hospitalized for seven days. Seven days during which Victoria never once appeared, never even made a single call. Scrolling through Blake's social media, I discovered that Victoria's "employee trip" was just a solo vacation to Hawaii with him. Hawaii, the very place I had always dreamed of for our honeymoon. Now she was there with another man.

Blake's photo showed him in swim trunks by the glassy ocean, a matching ring gleaming on his hand. In the background, in a blurry corner, Victoria's silhouette was unmistakable.

【Business perk from the boss lady!】

I'd seen those very rings in Victoria's pocket once. I’d thought they were a surprise for our wedding registration. I even had a diamond ring, her favorite, ready for her. Just my foolish self-delusion, again.

I scoffed and "liked" the post. Unexpectedly, my phone rang the very next second. It was Victoria.

"Alex, are you looking for trouble?! What's with the passive-aggressive 'like'?! Blake's threatening to come back now, you think round-trip tickets are free?!"

Her accusatory tone sent a hot flush to my throat.

"Apologize to Blake immediately! He just helped me close a massive contract last month. If he quits, I swear, I'm not done with you!"

Faced with Victoria's accusations, I couldn't even be bothered to expose her lies. Rings worth hundreds of thousands for an employee at a celebration dinner, even matching couple's rings, and then a private Hawaiian getaway with him? It was their wedding and honeymoon, practically.

I hung up, unliking the post. Staring at the last number on my recent calls, I finally dialed.

"Amelia, I want to come back to you. Do you still want me?"

Her voice, laced with endless affection, came through the line. "I told you, my side is always open for you, no matter what."

At that moment, tears streamed down my face. "Then I'll wait for you to come home."

Amelia, my stepsister, was an exceptional computer engineer who had moved abroad after graduating college. She had always taken great care of me, but after I insisted on being with Victoria, she had ruthlessly cut off contact. I hung up the phone, a bitter tide instantly surged through me. My last ten years had been wasted on a total scumbag.

The day I was discharged from the hospital, Victoria returned too. It was late at night when she got home. I had just finished washing the accumulated laundry and was standing on the balcony, lost in thought. In my hand was a condom I’d found in her pocket.

Victoria and Blake appeared downstairs, locked in an inseparable embrace. The sight was like a needle piercing my heart, so painful I couldn’t breathe. There was a time, not so long ago, when Victoria and I were like that, too.

She was my senior in college. By my sophomore year, she was already starting her own business. Every time I returned to campus, she’d cling to me, kissing and hugging, begging me to stay just a little longer. I truly believed such intense affection would lead to a perfect ending, which was why I rejected Amelia's plans to move abroad and chose to stay in the country, supporting Victoria's startup. And yet, this was the devastating conclusion.

The sound of a door opening echoed from behind me, followed by Victoria's scolding.

"What's going on? Why is the house such a mess!"

Victoria frowned the moment she walked in, surveying the room. She was a germaphobe. I always did the cleaning myself, meticulous about every corner, terrified she'd be uncomfortable if the cleaning lady missed something. Each time she broke out in a rash, I’d blame myself for not cleaning thoroughly enough. Now, I realize all my efforts had become her expectation, a reason to be taken for granted.

Victoria's phone vibrated incessantly in her hand, and she glanced down, smiling as she replied to messages. She nudged the suitcase at her feet with a kick, not even looking up.

"Since you're doing laundry anyway, wash the clothes in this suitcase. I can't stay in this mess. I'm going to a hotel. Call me when you've cleaned everything."

Victoria put her phone away, a dismissive instruction, and turned to leave. Watching her back, I called out to stop her. "Wait."

I limped after her. Her eyes fell on my knee. "Were you actually hurt?" A flicker of confusion crossed her eyes, and she frowned. "I thought you were just making it up..."

I didn't explain. I simply pressed the condom into her hand. "Take this. You'll need it." Victoria and I hadn't used those in a long time. She knew exactly who would need it.