Ten Years for Her Lie

To help her lover tip off criminals, my reporter wife secretly planted a tracking device on me, causing a covert mission to fail.

Over a dozen of my comrades lost their lives, and I was thrown into prison for ten years on suspicion of leaking classified information.

After my release, I pushed open the front door to find streamers and noise flooding toward me.

Jennifer stood at the center in a designer suit, her posture as elegant as ever.

The officiant enthusiastically pushed me toward the center of the living room:

"Mr. Robert, Jennifer wanted to surprise you today by holding the wedding ceremony you two never completed!"

She gazed at me deeply, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"Robert, I've been waiting for you all these ten years..."

I stared at her coldly until the anticipation in her eyes gradually filled with unease, then I spoke flatly.

"A husband with a criminal record probably doesn't deserve you."

Jennifer's body shook violently, the color draining from her face instantly.

The day I went to prison, she used those exact words to force me to sign the divorce papers.

Dead silence filled the living room.

"Robert! If you hadn't gone to prison back then, would Jennifer have needed to divorce you to protect herself?"

My sister Mia stepped in front of Jennifer, glaring at me fiercely.

"She didn't look down on you, and she's still willing to wait for a like youyou should be grateful!"

I smirked but didn't respond.

Ten years in prison taught me that the most powerful response is silence.

Seeing I had no reaction, the relatives joined in, chattering away with their persuasion.

My brother chimed in from the side: "Have you forgotten that you leaked information and got over a dozen people killed!"

"Jennifer has been compensating those families for the past ten yearsotherwise you would've died in prison long ago!"

Leaked information? Got my comrades killed? I almost laughed out loud.

The night before the operation ten years ago, Jennifer had unusually pressed me about the mission location and timing.

I strictly refused, citing discipline.

Before bed, she took out a necklace and put it around my neck, choking up as she said:

"Wear this. May it keep you safe and bring you home."

But I didn't know then that the necklace concealed a tracking device!

At the time, Jennifer's ex-lover Anthony was being held hostage by criminals while investigating a dangerous drug trafficking case.

To save him, Jennifer chose to betray me and my comrades.

Just as we were about to close the net, Jennifer burst in with people!

Gunfire erupted, and my comrades fell before my eyes one after another.

Before the investigation began, she knelt and grabbed my hand, pressing it to her belly as she pleaded:

"Robert, I'm carrying our child. I can't have anything happen to me..."

Looking at her belly that hadn't yet started showing, I took the blame.

But the day the verdict came down, she pushed divorce papers in front of me and said coldly:

"I had a miscarriage. I can't let his life begin at a prison visiting window."

"A husband with a criminal record would destroy my career. Let's divorce."

The pen tip hovered over the signature line, trembling for a full three minutes.

Ten years of hell began with that stroke.

In prison, being blamed for my comrades' deaths made me a public enemy.

Beatings, freezing cold, contaminated foodall routine.

And the permanent disabilities I'll carry for life.

An inmate thug punctured my left lung, which still aches to this day.

My right hand was shattered and remains permanently twisted and deformed.

"Ha..." I finally couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

Jennifer's face grew even paler.

Her gaze swept over my disabled right hand and my labored breathing from lung pain, and something complex flashed in her eyeshard to detect.

Like guilt, or perhaps irritation.

She took a deep breath and spoke gently to the still-chattering relatives:

"Everyone, please stop. Robert just got outhe probably needs time to adjust."

"During this time, I'll stay with him and show him my love."

Sure enough, the relatives immediately changed their tune, sighing one after another:

"Jennifer is such a rare, good woman!"

"Robert, knowing Jennifer is a blessing you earned over three lifetimes!"

Jennifer was too skilled at this performanceretreating to advance, playing the wronged yet devoted woman.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

After listening for just a few sentences, her expression changed dramatically. She grabbed Mia and rushed out without looking back.

The relatives in the living room exchanged glances, then found various excuses to leave one by one.

After standing in the living room for a moment, I turned and walked toward the master bedroom.

The closet door was half-open, with men's shirts hanging inside.

In the bathroom, there were two sets of toiletries and a razor.

Her claim of "waiting ten years for you" was apparently a joke.

I turned and left, flagging down a car on the street to head to the city hospital.

Ten years in prison had already wrecked my bodyI had to get checked.

I accidentally ended up on the floor where the nephrology department was located.

At the end of the hallway outside a patient room, I stopped.

The door was ajar, and Mia's suppressed sobbing came from inside.

"Jennifer, Anthony surviving this acute rejection episode is God's blessing! But the kidney transplant can't be delayed any longer."

"I know! I know!" Jennifer's voice was broken. "Anthony, just hold on a little longer..."

Through the gap in the door, I saw Anthony lying in the hospital bed.

Mia said anxiously:

"I'll go ask the doctor if there are any other options..."

Jennifer sobbed uncontrollably, trembling as she kissed Anthony's fingers.

"Anthony, Robert got out of prison. He has healthy kidneyshe can definitely save you!"

In the bed, Anthony shook his head, his voice barely a whisper:

"Jennifer, back then I was obsessed with getting the scoop and went into that drug den for fame. They injected me with drugs and ruined my kidneys. If you hadn't tipped them off to save me, Robert wouldn't have had to..."

Outside the door, the blood in my veins seemed to freeze instantly.

These two people destroyed my life and now brazenly enjoyed everything I had.

"Anthony, don't think like that!" She soothed him in a low voice. "What we did back then was to get firsthand truth and let more people see it!"

"It's Robert who was incompetent and couldn't protect his comrades. His imprisonment is deservedhe brought it on himself!"

Her words were like poison-tipped ice picks, chiseling away at my already riddled heart.

Then she continued, self-righteous:

"Protecting people and saving livesisn't that a soldier's duty?"

"Right now, you're a civilian waiting to be saved, so Robert should fulfill his obligation."

A chill spread from the deepest part of my heart, rapidly freezing my limbs.

I felt like a complete and utter joke.

Inside the room, Jennifer's voice continued.

"I'll remarry Robert as soon as possible..."

Her voice lowered, taking on a vicious edge.

"A spouse's signatureno one can stop that! Once he donates his kidney to you, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to him, living a good life together..."

So that was the entire reason for her grand insistence on remarrying.

I could no longer hold myself up and staggered backward, my heel hitting a trash can.

"Clang!"

"Who's out there?" Jennifer's suspicious voice called from inside.

I let out a bitter laugh and quickly walked away.

I used the five hundred dollars I'd saved in prison to rent a single room in the slums that never saw sunlight.

My criminal record barred me from all decent jobs, so I could only haul cargo at a warehouse in the suburbs.

I started before dawn. My right hand was useless, so I relied entirely on my back and waist.

After unloading each truck, my damaged lung felt like it would explode.

Jennifer's calls came like death warrants, ringing constantly.

I watched her name flash on the screen, going from initial sharp pain to eventual numbness.

I declined, blocked her. She'd call from a different number, and I'd block that too.

The cycle repeated endlessly.

I never opened the text messages she sent either.

Mia's messages came one after another too.

First accusing me of betraying Jennifer's devotion, then softening her tone to ask if I could do compatibility testing for Anthony.

Mia remained completely blind to my ten years of suffering and my injuries.

Watching those messages felt like slow torture with a dull blade.

Finally, I dragged her number into the blacklist too.

I thought if I hid like a rat in the gutter, they'd eventually leave me alone.

But I was wrong.

Today, I arrived at the loading dock early as usual, waiting for work assignments.

The boss walked over with a dark expression and viciously threw crumpled bills in my face.

"Take your dirty money and get lost right now!"

I froze, staring at him in confusion.

"What are you looking at? Murderer! Bastard who won't even save a dying man!" The boss spat on the ground, undisguised disgust in his eyes.

The other workers all looked over, their gazes strange, whispering among themselves.

A coworker I was somewhat familiar with shoved his phone in my face, righteous indignation burning.

"Playing dumb? Your brother is waiting for your kidney to save his life, and you won't give it! Are you even human?"

"Bah! And you call yourself a soldieryou heartless bastard!"

On the phone screen, the social news headline was a bolded, glaring title:

[Soldier Refuses to Save Dying ManCritically Ill Brother's Life Hangs by a Thread]

Below were two photos: one showing Anthony in a hospital bed covered in tubes in close-up.

The other was actually me from years ago in military uniform with medals on my chest after receiving an award.

[Article by: Jennifer]

The comments were already flooded with insults. My heart felt like it was being squeezed tightI couldn't breathe.

She actually fabricated lies to manipulate public opinion, putting me on a moral execution pyre.

I didn't defend myself. I had no strength to defend myself.

I bent down, hands trembling as I picked up the four hundred dollars scattered on the ground.

Step by step, I walked back to my rental.

As soon as I reached the alley entrance, I sensed something was wrong.

Several people carrying cameras were blocking my rental door, peering around.

My heart sank, and I instinctively turned to leave.

"Hey! There! That's Robert!"

At that shout, the group swarmed like sharks smelling blood.

Long lenses and short cameras surrounded me completely, blinding flashlights making it impossible to open my eyes.

"Mr. Robert! We heard you were in prison for getting your comrades killed?"

"What do you know about Anthony's condition?"

"Jennifer says you agreed to remarry but then backed outwas it to avoid donating your kidney?"

Each question was sharper and more malicious than the last.

I kept my head down, shielding my face with my arm, trying to push through.

"No comment! Let me through!"

"Robert, do you feel guilty?"

"Anthony is only thirty-five years oldcan you bear to watch him die?"

"Do you think having a prison record means you can abandon all responsibility, even basic humanity?"

I was like a cornered clown with nowhere to hide, completely disheveled and wounded.

The gathering crowd pointed and whispered. Not a single person dared approach.

Just then, the sound of a car engine came from outside the crowd.

The car door opened, and Jennifer and Mia stepped out.

The reporters immediately turned their cameras toward them.

In front of the cameras, Jennifer instantly put on a worried expression, choking up:

"Robert, we were married once. As long as you're willing to donate a kidney to save Anthony, I'll give you a million dollars and a house!"

"Why make yourself so miserable?"

Mia chimed in from the side, tears falling on cue.

"Robert, please save Anthony! He's your brother! Can you really watch him die?"

My eyes turned bloodshot, each word dripping with blood and hatred.

"I'm going to request a retrial of that case! I'll make all of you pay!"

I stared at them, enunciating each word:

"Want my kidney? Dream on!"

The worry on Jennifer's face froze instantly, revealing a flash of anger.

She stepped forward, hissing through clenched teeth:

"Robert, you're forcing my hand."

She pulled out her phone and quickly sent a message.

Within minutes, chaotic footsteps and noise came from the distance.

A group of grief-stricken people pushed through the crowd and instantly surrounded me.

They were the parents, wives, and children of the comrades who died ten years ago. They were older now, haggard.

But the hatred in their eyes was even more bone-deep than in court all those years ago.

"Robert! You murderer! Executioner!"

"If Jennifer and Anthony hadn't been secretly helping us all these years, giving us money, finding us jobs, helping the kids with schoolwe would've waited at the prison gates and stabbed you the moment you got out!"

"You killed my son, my husband, my father! You should've paid with your life long ago! Donating a kidney to save someone now is giving you a chance to atone!"

"Right! Donate! You have to! Otherwise we'll drag you to the hospital today!"

Spit and curses wove into a net, trapping me in the center.

Jennifer had fed them with favors and hatred, turning them into the sharpest blades.

"I'm innocent!" I shouted with all my strength. "Jennifer planted a tracking device on me! She tipped them off to save Anthonythat's why the mission was exposed..."

"He's gone crazy!" Mia pointed at me, saying with feigned distress to the crowd:

"Ten years in prison drove him insanehe's talking nonsense! Don't you all know what kind of person Jennifer is?"

"Still trying to slander good people on death's door!"

"Trying to shirk responsibility! No way!"

Watching the deceived crowd, the sneering Jennifer, and Mia who didn't care if I lived or died, I trembled uncontrollably.

Jennifer pushed through the crowd and stood before me again, looking down at me like she was granting charity.

"Robert, I'll ask you one last time. Will you donate your kidney or not?"

I raised my tear-filled eyes to look at this woman who had destroyed everything I had, speaking one word at a time:

"The greatest regret of my life was falling in love with you."

Jennifer froze, standing still.

"Beat him! Beat this heartless bastard to death!"

Someone shouted, and the crowd erupted!

I curled up to protect my vital organs, but fists and feet rained down from all directions.

Ribs made dull thuds, knees buckled in pain, sticks lashed across my back.

Mia tried to step forward but was blocked by the enraged crowd and turned her face away.

In the chaos, I heard someone say quietly:

"Jennifer said not to hit the kidneyswe still need those..."

That sentence was colder than any fist, freezing my heart and lungs solid.

I spat blood, roaring as I shoved one person aside and crawled toward the road!

"Stop him!"

"Don't let him get away!"

I dragged my nearly broken body onto the traffic lane!

Ear-splitting brake sounds erupted all at once!

"Robert! What are you doing! Come back!" Jennifer's panicked scream came from behind.

I gave her a bleak but liberated smile and leaned backward.

"Jennifer, in every life..."

"I will never forgive you."

Jennifer shook her head, her voice carrying unprecedented panic:

"No! I don't need you to donate anymore! Come back..."

Bang!! A massive impact sounded.