The Checkup That Changed Everything

I've been married to George for five years, and we've maintained the habit of getting annual checkups.

This year, feeling bad that I'd been working so hard for the family, he booked me a full-body examination worth three thousand dollars.

But on the day of the checkup, just as I was about to leave, I got a call from him:

"Betty says her breasts are bothering her again. I gave her your appointment slot. Just stay home and get dinner ready!"

I froze mid-step. My stomach, empty all morning, churned violently, and my heart sank with disappointment.

Betty was George's childhood friend. Whatever she asked for, he would never refuse.

I grabbed my bank card, planning to go to the hospital and book another checkup myself, but was told:

"There's no balance on this card. How can you make a reservation?"

I stood there as if struck by lightning. Five years of savingshow could there be nothing left?

I immediately called George, and he admitted it without hesitation.

"Betty majored in finance. Having her manage the money is the best choice. What would a housewife like you know about it?"

I gripped the bank card tightly. In that moment, my heart finally died.

"What? Are you sure?!"

I stood there clutching the bank card, anxious and confused, my brain completely shutting down.

Seeing I didn't believe her, the nurse swiped the card through the machine again, frowning impatiently:

"There's no money on this card. How am I supposed to charge you for the examination?"

"Don't you have a balance on your phone? Mobile payment works too..."

The nurse gently reminded me, but all I had on my phone was the fifty-six dollars George had given me for groceries. Nothing else.

Voices behind me in line grew impatient. Embarrassed and flushed, I apologized and hurried away with my card.

Only when I stood outside the hospital did my emotions gradually settle.

In our five years of marriage, George and I had agreed on how to handle our household savingsall income would be deposited into the card under my name.

There was no way it could have zero balance!

But where could my eighty thousand dollars in savings from five years have gone?

Suddenly, a terrifying thought flashed through my mind. With trembling hands, I called George to demand answers.

The moment he picked up, I heard George's puzzled voice calmly admitting everything:

"That's right, I transferred the eighty thousand in savings to Betty's name. She majored in finance and knows how to manage moneynaturally better than a housewife like you."

I was so angry my voice shook, nearly losing control:

"Twenty thousand of that was mine! Who gave you permission to transfer my money to her without asking me!"

"You need to transfer my money back right now!"

Hearing my near-hysterical voice, George sighed with exasperation, his tone growing sharp:

"Is this little thing worth getting so worked up over? Betty's not a stranger. Worst case, I'll give it back to you later!"

As we reached this impasse, Betty's voice drifted over from a distance:

"George, there are way too many tests! My arm is all bruised from the needles. It hurts so much!"

George immediately softened his cold tone, speaking with careful tenderness:

"That's my fault. I was worried about your health, so I scheduled all these checkups. I'll buy you a bag later to make up for it..."

The two of them flirted shamelessly as if no one else existed. George's mother, Ruth, joined in with playful banter:

"If only Betty were my daughter-in-law! Maybe our family would finally have an heir!"

I felt like an outsider, left to the side, listening to their family chat.

All my anger dissolved into overwhelming grievance.

Even before marriage, I knew George had a close friend.

I'd been suspicious once, but George held me and coaxed me for a long time, swearing:

"I only think of Betty as a sister. Don't worry, I promise we'll never cross any lines!"

But those promises had now become evidence slapping me in the face.

I was such a fool, believing George year after year.

Betty seemed to deliberately move closer to the phone speaker, constantly acting cute and pitiful, clearly gloating despite getting everything she wanted.

I couldn't listen anymore. I hung up directly, tears gradually blurring my vision.

I used my remaining fifty-six dollars to take a cab home, too exhausted to speak.

Every detail in the house was the result of George and me staying up late designing together.

He'd once held my hand, kissed the corner of my lips, and smiled:

"You're the only mistress of this house. There will never be anyone else."

But less than two months later, Betty moved into our home under the excuse of a graduation internship, treating me like a servant to order around.

"Christina, can you cut me some fruit? I'm allergic to mango though!"

"Christina, where's George's bathrobe? It's too cold after my shower. Can I borrow it?"

"Christina, I'm scared of the dark by myself. Can I sleep with George tonight?"

When Betty said that last line, she batted her eyes. She knew my opinion didn't matter.

Suppressing my dissatisfaction, I was about to warn Betty not to mess around when I saw George pull her into the bedroom.

"Betty's just a kid to me. You're not going to be petty with a kid, are you?"

This matter that had bothered me for so long ended up being dismissed as me being petty, and I got lectured by the whole family.

The coffee table I loved sat in the center of the living room. Our wedding photos on the bookshelf now looked bitterly ironic.

Lost in thought, the door suddenly burst open. Betty's laughter reached my ears, followed by complaints.

"Christina, you're home alone and didn't even make dinner?"

Right. In five years of marriage, this was the first time I didn't want to cook dinner.

I didn't respond. Standing for so long had made my lower back ache again.

George stared at me like I was his enemy:

"Christina, you're so angry about the savings that you won't even cook dinner?!"

Ruth walked in from behind the door. She had severe OCD and couldn't tolerate even a speck of dust.

My chronic back pain had become this severe under her day-after-day nagging.

Ruth raised her voice, her hand trembling with anger:

"Christina, you didn't mop the floor again today! Are you trying to make the whole family sick with germs!"

"How did our family end up with such a daughter-in-law!"

Then Ruth, as usual, started bringing up old grievances, criticizing me inside and out.

I'd devoted myself wholeheartedly to serving this family, giving up my career and life, only to receive such differential treatment in return.

I laughed bitterly. The last trace of hope in my heart vanished completely.

"I'm not hungry, so why would I cook dinner for you? Don't you have hands?"

George's face turned iron-blue, as if looking at a stranger, his brow furrowed tightly.

I turned to look at Ruth, who was still cursing, and said calmly:

"Since I'm so terrible, why don't you have George marry Betty instead? She seems pretty willing."

The moment those words left my mouth, Betty's eyes turned red, looking as if she'd been completely slandered, and she turned to leave.

"So this is how Christina sees me! And I thought of you as family. I'm leaving!"

George quickly grabbed Betty to explain, then turned and slapped me across the face.

The force was so great I fell directly onto the glass coffee table.

My already agonizing lower back felt like it had snapped in two.

I cried out in pain. The glass table shattered instantly, shards embedding themselves in my flesh, making me shudder.

Seeing my torn and bleeding state, George's voice softened somewhat, but still carried suppressed anger:

"I've told you so many timesBetty is just my sister. Can you stop being so unreasonable!"

"Consider what happened today a lesson. Don't make things difficult for me again!"

Ruth snorted coldly and stepped over my body to go to the side bedroom.

Betty continued sobbing.

Just before George was about to leave, I spoke with trembling voice.

My tone carried a note of finality:

"George, let's get divorced!"

"Divorced?"

George, who had just calmed down, lost his composure again:

"We've been together for so many years, and just because of some argument about a checkup today, you want a divorce?!"

"What am I to you? Is marriage a game to you!"

Every organ in my body ached, making it painful to say even one more word.

"I've thought it through. We have to get divorced!"

George thought I was playing hard to get like during our dating period. He laughed and stopped paying attention:

"Then go get divorced by yourself. As long as I don't agree, you won't succeed!"

Betty glared at me coldly, then left for the bedroom with her arm linked through George's.

I struggled to get up from the shattered glass, fortunate that my face and carotid artery were uninjured.

I pulled out my phone and called someone I hadn't contacted in a long time:

"You once said if I was wronged, you'd come get me. Was that true?"

At ten that evening, I got in Dino's car, semiconscious as he took me to the hospital.

When I woke up, the doctor had practically wrapped me up like a mummy. It looked rather ridiculous.

I glanced at the hospital room facilities, lowered my eyes, and laughed bitterly:

"Thank you, Dino. I'll pay you back for the hospital fees as soon as I can!"

Dino acted like he'd heard a joke, furious:

"Christina, we've known each other for over ten years with such a deep friendship, and over a few thousand dollars you say something so cold!"

"You're an only child from a well-off family. When were you ever short on food or drink? How could George let you suffer like this!"

"George won't even give you a few thousand dollars!"

My heart ached hearing this. I didn't want to admit it, but that was indeed the truth.

Pampered for over twenty years, after marriage I didn't even have money to go to the hospital.

Remembering the embarrassment of having no money on my card that day, tears streamed down uncontrollably, along with years of resentment.

Thinking he'd spoken too harshly, Dino quickly embraced me gently and comforted me:

"Christina, don't cry. I didn't mean it that way. I just can't stand to see you wronged..."

I shook my head, pulled away from the warm embrace, and sobbed:

"I need to ask you for one last favor!"

"Help me find a good lawyer. I want to file for divorce!"

Dino paused, his eyes growing determined as he solemnly agreed:

"Alright, I'll help you!"

After three days in the hospital, some of the bandages could finally be removed.

During this time, George hadn't called once.

I knew that without me at home, the two of them could celebrate freely and live it up.

But I wasn't idle either. Through the lawyer Dino found, I detailed my demands.

George's marital infidelity, Betty's use of my savingseverything that belonged to me, I would claim back in full.

That evening, as I was getting out of bed to move around, I suddenly received a message.

It contained unabashedly intimate nude photos. Betty was lying on George's back, sending me a provocation:

[George finally decided not to use protection this time. Once I'm pregnant with his child, you'll have no choice but to pack up and leave!]

[What belongs to me, you'll never take away in this lifetime!]

I looked at the provocative nude photos Betty sent, completely unmoved.

Whatever love I'd had for George had long been ground away, leaving only endless hatred.

This idiot had just handed me concrete evidence of the affair.

I'd been worried about not having surveillance to preserve this evidence.

I smiled coldly and backed up all these photos and chat records to send to my lawyer.

The day I was discharged, Betty sent me another medical report.

This time it was a pregnancy test. The ultrasound already showed a gestational sacpregnancy was imminent.

I thought these naked provocations were all there was.

But then Betty revealed an important piece of information that left me stunned.

[Christina, do you know why you haven't gotten pregnant in five years of marriage?]

[Because your prenuptial medical report was fake. George said you had an infertile constitution, but that was just an excuse because he didn't want to have children with you!]

[You fool, I can't believe you were deceived for so long haha!]