Divorce on Our Anniversary

On our seventh wedding anniversary, the police called me to come to the station.

A couple had reported that my company's products gave their child food poisoning.

The wife was Mary.

The husband was Terry.

I froze, because my husband's name was also Terry.

When I arrived at the police station, I saw Terry with his arm around a woman. He lit a cigarette:

"I have a three-year-old child with her. That's how it is."

I smiled and pulled out the divorce papers I'd prepared four years ago:

"You can sign them now."

Mary left the police station in tears, carrying her son.

Because I'd argued her into silence.

Faced with my legal knowledge, she broke down crying in frustration.

When we got home, I strode ahead while Terry followed with a frown:

"Could you have a better attitude? What kind of ability is bullying a mother and child!"

"Bullying?"

I whirled around:

"There's nothing wrong with my company's food. She obviously fed her child something he shouldn't have eaten and wanted to frame me to get compensation! Can't you see that!

"Who's bullying who!"

Terry frowned.

I stepped forward:

"You know perfectly well how clean my formula is, yet you still helped them report me."

I laughed coldly, looking at him with mockery: "You really haven't changed."

He let out a sigh:

"Lisa, sometimes you really lack empathy."

I froze.

"The child is only three. She's a first-time mother. When he got food poisoning so badly, of course she panicked.

"Instead of being understanding, you seized on a single mother's small mistake and wouldn't let it go.

"You..."

He looked me up and down.

His lips suddenly curved into a mocking smile:

"You're not fit to be a mother. No wonder you can't understand how parents feel."

I stared at him in disbelief.

The next secondcrack! My palm landed hard across his face.

"Terry! Why can't I be a mother! Don't you know?!"

Terry seemed to finally remember, lowering his eyes to avoid my gaze.

But I wouldn't let him off:

"Back in school, when you got drunk and fought with those guys, they came at you with a broken bottle.

"I blocked it for you! The bottle stabbed my abdomen, that's why I can't get pregnant!"

Guilt flickered across Terry's face.

I smiled bitterly:

"If I'd known you were fighting those guys over Mary that day, I would never have saved you."

Terry's throat bobbed:

"...I'm sorry... I said the wrong thing."

"You've said a lot of wrong things these past seven years."

I looked at him:

"Frankly, you just don't take me or our marriage seriously.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have said something like that without thinking.

"Have you ever said the wrong thing to Mary?" He fell silent.

I answered for him: "Of course not."

"I..."

"Terry."

I cut him off: "Don't make excuses.

"Not taking it seriously means not taking it seriously, just like when I said I'd give you one last chance."

I looked at my name on his chest.

I laughed coldly:

"You just paid lip service to cherishing our last opportunity."

"I've already taken things underground with her. What more do you want?"

I looked at him in disbelief.

He seemed irritated:

"These past four years, have you seen any trace of them in my life?

"No, right?"

I couldn't believe it: "Terry..."

"Enough, Lisa."

He frowned: "Originally, if you hadn't been so petty and unreasonable about this, you wouldn't have found out and damaged our relationship. We could have lived together just fine."

People really do laugh when they're extremely angry.

This complaint against my company should have just been a matter for the legal department. I didn't need to get involved.

But I recognized the complaint number as familiarit was Mary's.

I investigated personally and discovered Terry's lingering connection with her.

Terry sighed:

"Just pretend you didn't see this.

"Lisa, don't destroy the relationship we've worked so hard to repair."

I laughed.

I slammed the divorce papers on the table:

"If you really valued this relationship, you wouldn't still be in contact with her!"

"What are you doing?"

Seeing the words "Divorce Agreement," Terry's breathing visibly caught.

"Put that away!"

He tried to tear up the agreement, but I pressed it down firmly.

"Terry, I told youfour years ago was our last chance."

"Lisa..."

"Three days."

I stared at him: "Give me an answer."

"Lisa! Lisa!!"

I left without looking back. He didn't call me back.

I left him alone with the agreement, his fingers trembling slightly.

I waited two days. Terry didn't respond.

He didn't reply to my messages either.

I decided to go home in person to push for an answer.

But just as I reached the door, I heard the sound of drinking inside:

"Terry, it's the last day for that divorce agreement. You really not going to do something about it?"

"Do something?"

Terry laughed coldly: "She's being unreasonable! She should give me an explanation!"

What?

My hand froze on the doorknob.

"We've been married seven years. The past is the pastbringing Mary home was admittedly too much. But these past four years we've been more in love than any couple. Even if we fight, she shouldn't threaten me with divorce."

Terry waved the agreement:

"Hasn't she thought about how much this tantrum hurts our relationship?"

I bit my lip.

His friend glanced at the door, his breathing catching, but chose not to alert anyone.

Instead, he asked another question:

"Terry, what if she's serious?"

"Serious?"

Terry laughed: "We've risked our lives for each other. It's not that easy to break apart."

"Then why did you have a child with Mary? I thought you'd really turned over a new leaf."

Terry clinked glasses with them:

"When you have a life-and-death love, you don't need to be as careful as in the beginning.

"We saved each other's lives. She and I can never be separated in this lifetime."

I took a sharp breath, my heartbeat racing with anger.

I quietly closed the door.

It seemed it was time to go through litigation.

When I had my people prepare the lawsuit materials, Terry's message came through on the third day:

[Instead of wasting time making trouble with me, you should quickly compensate Mary for her losses]

After that, he sent a court summonsa lawsuit filed by Mary.

She was suing my company's food safety, claiming it caused her child's food poisoning.

I hadn't expected that after I made her cry in court that time, she still wouldn't give up.

But this persistence had to have someone backing her.

I called Terry:

"You helped her file?"

Terry chuckled softly without answering. The answer was obvious.

"What if I don't pay?"

"Lisa, you should think carefully. The legal team appearing in court this time is from my company."

My breathing caught.

"Why be so stubborn? Just admit it."

I gripped my phone:

"This company was built by my grandfather. It's accumulated so much goodwill over a hundred years. Admitting fault means destroying the brand image Lisa Group has built?"

Terry sighed:

"Must you make things difficult for them?"

"You're the ones making things difficult for me!"

I gritted my teeth:

"Mary fed her child something he shouldn't have eaten!"

Terry was silent for a moment.

When he spoke again, his voice had turned cold:

"Then do as you wish."

The dial tone buzzed in my ear.

I stood there gripping my phone.

Julian from the legal department looked at me with concern:

"Lisa, Terry Group has sent us a lawyer's letter. Their team has never lost a case domestically or internationally. We..."

I clenched my fist:

"Fight it. I'll be right there with you."

Julian's eyes lit up.

On the day of the hearing, when I appeared as both defendant and lead attorney, Terry was visibly stunned.

He didn't know I had a law degree.

My phone buzzeda message from him.

I ignored it and faced Terry Group's legal team head-on.

Throughout the proceeding, Terry's expression grew increasingly dark.

He discovered his legal team wasn't invincible.

And that I'd been hiding my legal abilities all along.

When the court dismissed Mary's lawsuit, Mary broke down crying in the courtroom.

I glanced coldly at Terry. His expression was unreadable.

But as we left the courtroom, he caught me at the door.

He smiled meaningfully:

"Ms. Lisa, you're far more capable than I imagined."

"What, Mr. Terry planning to appeal for your mistress?"

"No."

He smiled: "You're so capable, why would I oppose you?"

I looked at him in confusion.

He was already leaving:

"Then I wish Ms. Lisa great success in her career."

I frowned: "What is he planning?"

That night I didn't go home from the office.

I checked the warehouse, inspected safety and fire prevention, making sure there wasn't a single vulnerability.

Only then did I feel at ease.

Julian left work with me:

"Thank goodness you were there, otherwise those litigators would have swindled all our profits!

"Terry is so heartless, actually having his team claim all our operating income as compensation for Mary!

"When it was clearly Mary who fed her child the wrong thing! The favoritism is too obvious!"

"Exactly! Whose husband is Terry anyway!"

Julian quickly covered her subordinate's mouth, carefully watching my expression.

I just stiffened slightly, then smiled:

"It's fine. Let's go."

Julian's face brightened: "Okay!"

Just as we left the factory grounds, a huge explosion came from behind. Julian immediately shielded me.

Hot wind rushed past. I whipped around.

Above the factoryflames shot into the sky!

"Dad! Mom!"

I rushed back like a madwoman. Julian and the others grabbed me:

"Lisa! It's dangerous! You can't go in!"

"My parents' belongings are still in there!"

"Lisa!"

They held me tighter.

Fire trucks and patrol cars arrived one after another. The scene was cordoned off.

Everyone held me back, not letting me get close.

My breathing shook:

"My parents' belongings are still inside! Everything's in there! Let me go!"

"Even so! They're gone now anyway!"

The rescue workers pleaded earnestly.

I stared at his soot-blackened face. All my strength to rush forward vanished.

I turned around. In the distance, a Rolls-Royce. A familiar face appeared behind the window.

Terry held a cigar between his fingers, watching my side with satisfaction.

In the passenger seat, Mary held her child, finally smiling.

Terry got out of the car.

"You humiliated Mary in court. You should give her some compensation, right?"

I couldn't speak.

"Although all the inventory is gone, I'll pay to replace it afterward. Don't blame herit was all my idea."

My throat tightened painfully.

Inside were all the traces left by my parents and grandfather.

When I was five, Mom held me while she and Dad took me through it all.

Pointing at each piece of equipment, telling me the story of the brand's founding.

They stroked my head:

"The company will be yours someday. Take good care of it."

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry..."

Everything went black. The world spun before my eyes.

Terry's smug, leisurely expression froze in that moment.

"Lisa!"

Before I lost consciousness, I heard his panicked voice.

When I opened my eyes again, my abdomen ached with a sinking pain.

I covered it, looking blankly at the doctor and Terry.

The doctor sighed:

"The baby is gone. Caused by excessive grief."

"Baby..."

I propped myself up: "I was pregnant?"

The doctor nodded: "Two months."

I fell back onto the bed.

Two months... these past two months, I'd been busy with the lawsuit.

So those times I felt dizzy and nauseous weren't just from being too tired...

"Your body already has difficulty conceiving. Why weren't you more careful?

"In the future, I'm afraid you really won't be able to get pregnant."

I closed my eyes. Tears streamed down my temples, soaking the entire pillow.

After the doctor left, Terry gripped my hand tightly.

"Lisa, I'm sorry, I didn't know... I..."

His voice caught.

His forehead pressed against my hand, his shoulders trembling slightly:

"I've been hoping for this child for so long... It's all my fault... I should have noticed you were pregnant...

"But at that time I was still preparing for the lawsuit against you..."

Indeed, both he and I had been hoping for a child of our own.

Now it was gone. There would never be another.

Because he wanted to vent Mary's anger.

"Lisa, I'll send them away. This time I'll really send them away."

His phone rang. He answered, his expression freezing instantly.

"I'll be right there."

"Where are you going?"

I looked at him with red eyes: "Mary, right?"

He hesitated: "It's not her. The child has a fever."

"What about my child!"

My nails dug deep into his palm and the back of his hand.

He paused, then pried my fingers open one by one:

"I'll come back."

I covered my aching abdomen, laughing through tears.

I had no child anymore. But he did. Mary did too.

When Julian came to see me, I'd already fallen from the bed.

She quickly helped me up:

"Lisa! I'll get the doctor right away!"

"No need."

I stared straight ahead: "Discharge me. Take me home."

In front of Terry's and my marital home, I wore a warm coat, holding a torch in my hand.

"You're really going to burn it?"

I tossed the torch onto the pile of kindling. My voice was flat:

"Yes."

Terry had carried me into this place once. Those beautiful memories were too painful to look at.

If I was leaving, I'd burn the past clean.

"Should we say goodbye to Terry?"

"No need."

The private plane was already waiting on the tarmac.

I handed her the divorce papers:

"Just give him this."

The plane took off. The fire still hadn't died. I didn't look back.

I'd never come back again.