Love Has an Expiration Date

In the fifth year of our marriage, a third person entered the picture between my husband, the diplomat Jerry Lembeck, and me.
His new protg, Rosie.
She took three days on a translation brief that should've taken a few hours. She's hopelessly incompetent!
I don't know what the higher-ups were thinking, saddling a diplomat with a college intern!
Jerry, who always prided himself on his unshakable composure, became an irritable, frustrated mentor whenever Rosie was involved.
Driven by a sense of duty, Jerry was constantly cleaning up Rosie's messes, often berating the young woman to the point of tears.
I didn't think much of it, until the day we were at an art exhibition.
He pointed at a sculpture of a goofy-looking goose and chuckled.
"Hahaha, that's Rosie to a T. Yesterday, she insisted on eating ice cream even though she was on her period. Such a glutton!"
My brow twitched.
"How do you know she was on her period?"
...

1
The smile on Jerry's face froze for a second before he nonchalantly explained.
"Oh, I was helping her with a spreadsheet yesterday and saw a box of tampons on her desk."
I bit my lip, a sour taste filling my mouth.
Jerry was a career man, through and through. When he worked, he was completely focused. The fact that he'd notice a detail like that was unsettling.
I said nothing.
Jerry, lost in his own world, snapped a picture of the goose and sent it to a group chat.
"This is so Rosie. I have to send this to the group and roast her for it."
"She's a total noob but thinks she's a pro."
Hearing gaming slang come out of Jerry's mouth was so jarring I thought I'd misheard him.
As the youngest and most ambitious diplomat in his division, Jerry never allowed himself to get sucked into online distractions.
"You've started playing video games?" I asked, surprised.
He shook his head casually. "No, that's Rosie. She's the gamer, always talking in that kid slang."
I spoke calmly. "If you know it's 'kid slang,' then you probably shouldn't be using it, right?"
Jerrys hand, busy texting, paused. He looked up at me, his brow furrowed. "Are you angry?"
"Rosie's my intern, Elara. She's just a kid. Why are you getting worked up over her?"
I almost laughed.
"She's twenty years old."
"And I don't think it's normal for my husband to constantly bring up another adult woman."
Jerry just stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, before a patronizing smile spread across his face. He cupped my face in his hands and gave me a kiss.
"My darling Elara, you're so beautiful when you're jealous."
"Don't worry. Don't overthink it. Rosie is just my intern, nothing more. If you don't like her, I'll never mention her in front of you again, okay?"
For the next two months, the name "Rosie" truly vanished from my world.
Jerry reverted to the composed, unreadable diplomat he'd always been, his mind consumed by work. He practically lived at the office.
"Elara, I have to work late tonight. Go to bed early."
I looked at the candlelit dinner I had painstakingly prepared, a hollow feeling echoing in my chest. Then I saw the bottle of antacids on the table, and my heart clenched.
Jerry had a sensitive stomach. A flare-up during a late night at work would be awful.
The early winter night was frigid. I stood outside Jerry's office door in my thin silk pajamas, shivering, a container of food in one hand and his medication in the other.
Inside, Jerry was laughing with a young woman.
His hand rested casually on her shoulder, his face relaxed and joyful in a way I hadn't seen in years.
"Rosie, I'm serious, you need to lay off the junk food. It's terrible for your stomach."
The girl winked playfully and, as Jerry opened his mouth to speak, shoved a piece of her hamburger right into it.
"Mentor, it's really, really good. Just try it~"
Her eyes sparkled with bright anticipation.
Jerry stared at her for a few seconds, hesitated, and then actually began to chew.
I clutched the box of medicine in my hand so tightly I almost crushed it, fighting the urge to storm in.
Jerry's stomach was incredibly fragile; his diet was always meticulously controlled. Yet here he was, risking a painful episode because he couldn't bring himself to refuse his little intern.
He swallowed with some difficulty and gave her a confirming smile. "Delicious."
"Hehe, see? I told you! No one can resist the allure of a burger!"
Jerry chuckled, then his expression turned serious.
"Don't get cocky. If I wasn't here helping you with your files, I'd be home having dinner with my wife right now."
His tone was stern, but laced with an undercurrent of indulgence I couldn't miss.
The girl put her hands together and bowed playfully.
"Aww, my mentor is the bestest!"
The sight of their chummy "mentor-protg" dynamic was a physical pain in my eyes.
I opened my chat with Jerry and slowly typed out a single line.
"Do you remember what today is?"
Jerry looked at his phone. The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a slight frown.
"Elara, be good. I'll make up for our fifth-anniversary gift later."
Ha. So he did remember.
I dragged my frozen body away, dumping the food and medicine into the nearest trash can.
Once I was out of the building, I sent Jerry one last message.
"Divorce."

2
After sending the message, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb, took a sleeping pill, and slept soundly through the night.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Jerry, sitting by the bed, his eyes webbed with red veins. "You're awake?"
"Mmm."
I stretched languidly, which only made Jerry's frown deepen.
"You're going to divorce me just because I worked late and didn't spend the evening with you?"
"Elara, you know how stressful my job is. Can you please stop with these jokes?"
I opened my mouth to tell him about Rosie, then decided against it.
It was pointless. He'd know I wasn't joking when the divorce papers arrived at his office.
Half an hour later, Jerry was called away.
The divorce papers I'd sent caused an uproar at the State Department. Everyone knew Jerry and I had always been the picture of a happy couple. And everyone knew that Jerry and Rosie had recently become inseparable.
For a diplomat, marital stability was paramount; it could significantly impact their career. The following month, Ambassador Ford personally removed Jerry from the list of attendees for a major international conference.
Rosie clutched at the sleeve of Jerry's shirt, her face a picture of misery.
"Mentor... did your wife misunderstand something about us?"
"It's all my fault. I'm just so stupid, I can't do anything right. Maybe I should go apologize to her."
Jerry waved a dismissive hand, sighing in frustration.
"Don't worry about it. She's prone to these little tantrums. She would never actually divorce me."
But as he looked down, his eyes caught the empty medicine box in the trash can.
In an instant, everything clicked into place.
When Jerry's mother heard, she called me, her voice filled with sincere apologies, begging me to forgive him for the sake of our eight years together.
"Elara, dear, I promise you, this will never happen again."
"Ambassador Ford himself is looking into this. If you divorce Jerry now, his entire future will be ruined!"
My own parents were gone, and Jerry's mother had always treated me like her own daughter. I couldn't ignore her plea.
That evening, right in front of me, Jerry reassigned Rosie to another mentor and deleted all of her contact information.
He held up three fingers and swore an oath. "Elara, I'm sorry. I was careless and I hurt you."
"I promise, I will never neglect you for another woman again."
His expression was solemn, as earnest as the day he first confessed his love for me.
My eyes stung. I stepped out onto the balcony to take a call.
"I'm fine, Uncle Ford. I know how to handle things with Jerry."
The New Year passed peacefully. Perhaps out of guilt, Jerry threw me an incredibly elaborate birthday party.
Flowers, candles, stuffed animals, a towering cake...
He smiled at me, his eyes filled with love and conviction.
"Happy birthday, Elara. Make a wish."
I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes. The romantic atmosphere made me feel, for a moment, as if I had never lost his love.
When I opened my eyes, Jerry was just putting his phone down, a worried look briefly crossing his face.
"What's wrong?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, just a little work thing. Today is all about my princess Elara's birthday. No one is allowed to interrupt."
I smiled back without a word and began to eat my cake.
But Jerry glanced at his phone ten times in the next five minutes.
Finally, he couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up, his face a mask of apology and urgency.
"I'm so sorry, Elara. There's an error in a critical document, and they need it fixed right away. I have to go take care of it."
"Be good, Elara. I'll be back as soon as I'm done."
He left in such a hurry that he forgot his work laptop.
I casually opened it.
A message from Rosie had just popped up.
"Mentor, where are you? sniffle sniffle I'm so scared."

3
My heart slammed against my ribs as if struck by a sledgehammer.
Jerry. He had broken his promise.
Once again, he had abandoned me for Rosie.
I clicked open the chat window.
Five minutes ago, during the half-minute I was making my wish, Rosie had messaged him.
"Mentor, what do I do? I was trying to cook at home, and the pan caught on fire!"
Jerry had rapidly typed out instructions on how to extinguish a grease fire.
But she never replied.
How laughable.
My birthday had become a prop in a game between my husband and some other girl.
I scrolled up through their chat history.
I realized they had never broken off contact at all.
Even though Rosie had been reassigned, she still went to Jerry with every little thing. At first, Jerry's replies were curt and dismissive. But slowly, their conversations drifted from work to their personal lives.
"Mentor, look. Does the pink dress suit me better, or the yellow one?"
"You'd look beautiful in either."
"Hmph! You're just saying that to be nice. Well, what if it were your wife wearing them? Which would be better?"
Jerry was silent for a moment.
"Her age isn't suited for such... vibrant colors."
...
There were countless chats just like that. I sat on the edge of the bed and read through them all night.
By seven in the morning, Jerry still hadn't come home.
I clutched my empty, aching stomach. Even though I had prepared myself, I couldn't stop the tears from falling.
Because Jerry's stomach was so sensitive, he knew better than anyone how important regular meals were.
So on our wedding day, he had promised me.
"Elara, no matter how busy I get with work, I will always be home before seven."
"So that when you wake up, a hot breakfast will be waiting for you."
A promise he had kept, like clockwork, for five years.
Today, it was finally broken.
I rubbed my throbbing temples and picked up my phone, only to see a new post from Rosie on her social media.
It was a picture of a breakfast spread.
A heart-shaped fried egg, sandwiches, dumplings, oatmeal with milk...
The caption read:
"Thanks to my amazing mentor for the lovely breakfast! You're the best! ?"
Right. Just perfect.
My eyes burned. My mind was flooded with the memory of the first time Jerry cooked for me. He was wearing an apron, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up. The early morning sun caught the sharp angles of his face, making him so handsome it took my breath away.
I'd gotten a little jealous then, my voice tinged with poutiness.
"You're so handsome when you cook. You could charm a whole army of girls."
Jerry had laughed and stroked my hair.
"Silly girl. For the rest of my life, I'll only ever cook for one person: you."
I wiped away my tears, got dressed, put on my makeup, and walked out the door.
I took the divorce papers and drove to Jerry's office myself.
But the moment I got out of my car, two men cornered me. A sharp, dull pain exploded at the back of my neck, and the world went black.
When I woke up, I was tied to a chair in what looked like an abandoned factory.
Rosie's cheerful voice came from above.
"Awake, are we?"
The young woman walked over, a curious smile on her face. It was the first time I'd seen her up close.
The pink dress really did suit her.
That was the first thought that popped into my head. Her skin was flawless, plump with collagen, so smooth it looked like you could squeeze water from it. The delicate pink made her look exquisite.
Rosie flashed a pair of cute little canine teeth. She looked me up and down, then let out a contemptuous laugh.
"I thought the woman Jerry was protecting would be special. Turns out, you're just some old woman who can't even have kids."
Can't have kids?
A knot of pain formed in my chest. I couldn't believe Jerry had told her even that.
Rosie pulled down the strap of her dress, revealing a prominent hickey on the smooth, white curve of her breast.
"Listen, lady, if I were you, I wouldn't be shamelessly clinging to the title of Mrs. Lembeck!"
"After all, the one who isn't loved is the real third wheel!"
I scoffed. "You think the position of Mrs. Lembeck is built on nothing but my eight-year relationship with..."
"Oh, spare me!" Rosie cut me off impatiently.
"Don't give me that eight-year sob story. Love has an expiration date. Otherwise, how about we make a little bet?"

4
I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you want to bet?"
"Let's bet on who Jerry loves right now. Me, or you."
...
When Jerry arrived, Rosie and I were both tied to chairs. The moment she saw him, she burst into hysterical tears.
"Mentor! sob You're finally here! I was so scared!"
Jerry threw a bag of cash toward the men standing over us. "I brought the money! Now let them go!"
One of the men checked the bag, then grinned maliciously. "The amount's right, but you're five minutes late. So now, this money is only enough to buy one of them back."
"You'd better think carefully. Who's it gonna be?"
Jerry froze, his face flushing with a rare, desperate anger. "No! I'm taking both of them!"
The man spat on the ground. "Like hell you are! I said, this only buys you one!"
"You waste any more of my time, and you're leaving with neither!"
Jerry's fists clenched. His gaze darted first to me, then to Rosie.
He was hesitating.
But I was perfectly calm. It never occurred to me that Jerry would choose Rosie.
On my eighteenth birthday, I was kidnapped. It was Jerry who risked his life to save me. The abuse I suffered during that time left me infertile and with deep psychological scars that took a full decade to heal. He knew how terrified I was of situations like this.
"I... I choose..."
"Mentor!"
Jerry was pointing at me, but before he could finish, Rosie screamed.
She pushed her hair aside, revealing the other side of her face. It was swollen and purple with a brutal handprint.
"Mentor, I'm so scared, it hurts so much! Please, please don't leave me! sob"
Jerry's face twisted in pain and anger. He roared at the kidnappers.
"You hit her!"
"She's just a girl!"
Without another moment of hesitation, he pointed at Rosie, his voice firm. "I choose her! Let her go, now!"
A roaring sound filled my ears. My heart felt like it had been carved out, leaving a hollow space.
I called his name instinctively. "Jerry?"
He couldn't quite meet my eyes, but his voice was as gentle as ever.
"Elara, you've... you've been through this before. You're mentally prepared. But Rosie hasn't. It would break her."
"Don't worry. I'll go get the rest of the money and come right back for you. Be good."
I didn't say a word. I just watched as Jerry untied Rosie's ropes and cradled her head, whispering comforts.
It was like watching a ghost of our past.
Back then, Jerry had been just as gentle.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now."
Like a knight protecting his princess, he had lifted me into his arms and carried me away with steady, determined steps.
The knight was the same. But he had a new princess.
Rosie, nestled in Jerry's arms, looked back over his shoulder and mouthed two words at me.
"I win."
I watched until Jerry's figure was a tiny speck in the distance before I turned my head stiffly.
"The game is over. Untie me."
The two men exchanged a look. A rough hand slid up my thigh, and they laughed lewdly.
"Miss Rosie said the loser has to face a penalty."
"Hey, beautiful. Your husband doesn't appreciate you, but we sure do."
Alarm bells screamed in my head. "What do you think you're doing? I'm warning you, don't try anything stupid. I am..."
A rough cloth was stuffed into my mouth, silencing me.
"Who are you? Just some housewife living off her husband's money? You should be grateful we're even interested!"
I tried to struggle, but my strength was draining away.
...
Jerry drove Rosie home, but a gnawing unease chewed at him the entire way. The image of my despairing eyes was burned into his mind. His heart ached. A sickening feeling began to creep in, the feeling that he had made the wrong choice.
He quickly gathered more money and was about to race back to save me when his phone rang.
"Sir, you need to see the news! It's your wife! Something's happened!"
"Breaking news: a woman's body has been discovered in an abandoned factory, the victim of a rape and murder. The body has sustained eighty-seven separate injuries..."

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