I'd been working myself to the bone at work for a whole month, so my boss finally gave me a special seven-day break.

When I got home, I told my husband to pack quickly so our whole family could go on a trip.

But he didn't even look up.

"A trip? Seriously?"

"Our son's tuition and tutoring fees for next semester are over twenty thousand, and we still don't have enough."

The smile on my face froze instantly, and I quickly asked,

"Didn't you tell me last month that we had 1.3 million saved in our bank account?"

"How can we not have money for tuition?"

Only then did Ethan Miller slowly raise his head, his tone flat.

"Oh, Olivia Clark is getting married during the holiday. That money was our wedding gift money for her."

I stood there, unable to process what he'd said for a long time.

Olivia was Ethan's childhood sweetheart.

Even if they grew up together, but who gives that much as a wedding gift?

Seeing I was silent, Ethan got up from the sofa, sounding impatient.

"Sophia Willions, what are you standing there for?"

"There are leftovers from yesterday in the kitchen. Eat up, and then get back to delivering food. Our son said he wants a strawberry cake tomorrow, you can't just let him watch other kids eat it, can you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, our son Leo Miller ran out of his room, tugging on my sleeve and mimicking his dad's tone.

"Sophia, go make money!"

"I want the biggest strawberry cake!"

That "Sophia" made my heart tremble.

He used to always cling to me and call me "Mommy." When did he start ordering me around like Ethan does?

I tried hard to suppress the rage boiling inside me.

"Honey, tell me you're joking. Did you really take all our savings and lend it to your childhood sweetheart?"

Even then, I was still holding onto a sliver of hope.

Ethan hadn't discussed it with me beforehand, so he couldn't have just given such a huge sum of money to the lazy Olivia for her wedding.

But Ethan acted like he'd heard a joke, picked up a glass of water from the coffee table, took a sip, and then said slowly,

"What do you mean, lend?"

"Sophia, are you deaf today?"

"I told you, that 1.3 million was wedding gift money for Olivia. I never planned on asking for it back. We're all good friends, and come on, with your salary of over forty thousand a month, you can't be unwilling to part with this little bit of money, can you?"

If Ethan had discussed it with me beforehand, giving twenty or thirty thousand wouldn't have been out of the question.

But how could he just give away 1.3 million so casually without saying a word?

I shot up, my knee hitting the coffee table, and I sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

"This little bit of money?"

"Ethan, that's 1.3 million!"

"That's five years of my blood and sweat, from working overtime until 3 a.m. every day, from drinking with clients until my stomach bled!"

"Olivia is an outsider. Do you think it's appropriate for her to take so much money from you for her wedding?"

Ethan snorted.

"What's not appropriate about it?"

"I've always seen her as my own sister. Of course I have to help her when she's in trouble."

"Besides, it wasn't Olivia's idea. If the groom's family hadn't demanded a fully paid-for house, why would she even look at a house worth over a million?"

I almost laughed out of anger.

His own sister?

More like his lover!

Ethan and I both came from a poor rural area.

When we first got married, my parents gave me their life savings, and it was only enough for the down payment on an 80-square-meter apartment.

Not long after we got married, Ethan got sick, quit his job, and became a stay-at-home husband.

The entire burden of our life fell on my shoulders alone.

I had to work at the design institute during the day and then work part-time as a food delivery driver at night.

After five years, we finally paid off most of the mortgage.

I had thought that in a few more years we could get a bigger house, so we'd all have more space.

But now, he took it all and gave it to his childhood sweetheart, Olivia.

Olivia graduated from community college three years ago and just plays video games at home all day, with Ethan secretly covering all her rent and utility bills.

I knew about it, but I didn't confront him for our child's sake.

I never thought he could say something so shameless.

I was so angry my voice started to tremble:

"If they don't have money, then don't get married!

Don't take our whole family's savings to fill Olivia's bottomless pit!"

Hearing that, Ethan shouted:

"Sophia!

You're heartless! I'm only like this because of you!"

The moment Ethan said that, my chest felt like it had been struck by a heavy hammer, making it painful to even breathe.

In a daze, I was transported back to that rainy morning six years ago.

When the nurse handed me the organ donation consent form to sign, I clung to a last shred of hope and asked:

"Is he really the only one who can donate?"

At that time, Olivia had a sudden illness and urgently needed a kidney transplant.

When Ethan found out, he immediately grabbed me and we rushed to the hospital in a taxi.

But on the way, there was a car accident. He was pierced by a piece of metal while protecting me.

Before he lost consciousness, he held my hand:

"Olivia is still young. You have to donate my kidney to her."

I saw the stubbornness in his eyes, my heart ached so much I couldn't speak, and I could only sign the consent form with red eyes.

When the operating room light went out, the doctor wheeled him out, his face pale.

My heart ached and I couldn't stop crying. I took care of him in the hospital for a full three months until he recovered.

Later, a friend at the hospital secretly told me that there were two other volunteers who were also a match at the time.

It was Ethan's mom who tearfully persuaded Ethan:

"Back then, Olivia's parents died saving your father. You have two kidneys, it's fine to give one to her. Just think of it as repaying her father's kindness."

When I found out, Ethan was still at home recovering.

Looking at his pale face back then, I couldn't bring myself to say anything accusatory.

I just felt that in that family, he had it harder than anyone.

So later, when he developed complications from the kidney donation and couldn't keep working and wanted to quit, I agreed without a second thought.

Every month when I got paid, I gave every single cent to him.

I thought about how much he had suffered before, and that now, even if I had to work a little harder, I had to make our family's life more comfortable.

I stared at him, my throat tight, and it took me a long time to force out a sentence:

"I never blamed you for donating your kidney to Olivia back then, because I knew how difficult your situation was at home. But now, how can you blame me for it?"

Ethan's eyes turned red too:

"If I hadn't protected you during the car crash, how would I have ended up with all these health problems after donating a kidney?"

Now I can't even work and can only stay home to recover. Who else is there to blame but you?

!

"Today I just asked you to go work as a food delivery driver after eating, and you throw such a huge tantrum. Olivia was right, you've looked down on me from the very beginning!"

I don't know how Ethan connected these two things.

I had no choice but to explain patiently:

"I'm not angry that you want me to go out and earn money. I'm angry that you took all our savings and gave them to Olivia without my permission. The 8,000 mortgage payment is due soon, and Leo needs 20,000 for tuition. Where do you expect me to get that much money all of a sudden?"

Hearing my words, Ethan's voice suddenly rose:

"So you're still blaming me for not working, for not being able to provide for this family like a man?"

"Sophia, the people who gave me love letters back then could have lined a whole street. If I had known you were like this, I never should have proposed to you!"

Seeing his dad cry, Leo charged at me, waving his little fists, and even reached out to scratch my face.

"Bad woman!

You're bullying Daddy, I'll kill you!"

Even though kids say things without meaning them, my son's words still stung me.

I reached out, pulled him in front of me, and said in a serious tone:

"Leo, Mommy isn't bullying Daddy. Who taught you to talk to Mommy like that?"

But he ducked his head and bit down hard on my wrist, his teeth sinking painfully into my flesh.

I endured the pain and didn't let go, but he stiffened his neck and shouted:

"Olivia said it! She said a useless woman like you doesn't deserve a husband and kids. I'm going to get Olivia to come kill you!"

To hear such words from the son I had doted on his entire life, my heart felt like it was being stabbed.

I don't know when he had become so defiant and bossy.

I choked back a sob and pulled him toward his room:

"Come back to the room with Mommy, and we can talk this out..."

Bang!

A sharp pain exploded at the back of my head, and I felt a warm liquid run down behind my ear.

I turned around and saw Ethan still clutching the broken half of a teacup.

Porcelain shards were scattered on the floor, and a large stain of tea and blood was spreading across the back of my shirt.

His eyes were bloodshot as he roared:

"Sophia, Leo is your own son!

Are you really going to hit him just because he said a few nice things about Olivia?!

I clutched the back of my head, the pain making my vision go black.

Looking at the frantic man in front of me, and my son hiding behind him, his eyes filled with fear and disgust.

Suddenly, I felt tired.

Ethan didn't even glance at me, pulling Leo in front of him:

“Leo, tell your mom that you were okay with Aunt Olivia taking that money.”

My son stared at my bleeding head and suddenly giggled:

“Aunt Olivia said that when she has a baby brother, she'll take me to the amusement park and buy me the biggest Transformer. I'm willing to give her all our family's money!”

In that moment, I felt nothing but bitterness.

I used to think Ethan was only protecting Olivia because his mom guilt-tripped him about some debt of gratitude.

But now, I realized this was entirely his own willing choice.

I was so busy earning money to pay off debts that I neglected my son's upbringing, and now he's turned into a second Ethan.

I casually grabbed a few tissues and pressed them to the wound, crouching down to look into Leo's eyes, my voice holding a final shred of hope:

“Leo, Mommy really did neglect you before, but when you do something wrong, you have to apologize. What should you say to Mommy now?”

I waited for a “Mommy, I'm sorry,” but what I got was a cold snort from him:

“Serves you right!

Who told you to try and hit me!”

Those words were like a bucket of ice water poured over me, leaving me cold to the bone.

I stood up, my gaze sweeping coldly over Ethan:

“Ethan, I'm giving you two choices.”

My voice was devoid of any warmth.

“Either you go get back every single cent of that one million three hundred thousand right now,

or I go to court tomorrow and file for divorce,

and you'll still have to pay that money back then.”

Ethan's face instantly turned pale.

A flash of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly replaced it with a 'what-can-you-do-about-it' look:

“Sophia, how could you be like this?

I'm the man of the house. How can I ask for a gift back once it's been given?”

“Let me tell you, you owe me for life. Don't you dare threaten me with divorce!”

I didn't waste any more words on him and stormed out, slamming the door.

The moment the door shut, it blocked out Ethan's angry curses and Leo's racket from behind me.

I just felt a wave of exhaustion.

These five years of marriage have drained all my energy.

After getting my wound treated at the hospital, I drove back to my neighborhood, only to have my way blocked by a group of people.

Olivia was there with a few young thugs with brightly colored hair, blocking my car,

She was holding a megaphone, banging hard on my car window while shouting to the surrounding neighbors:

“Everyone, come and see! This is a female love rat!”

“My friend protected her in a car accident, and now he's too weak to even work. And what does she do? She forced my friend to have a child with her, and now that my nephew is in kindergarten, she wants to kick my friend to the curb! This is the only child my friend will ever have!”

“Not only does she want a divorce, she's forcing my friend to pay her 1.3 million!

You tell me, is there any justice in this world?

Who bullies people like this?”

Ethan was also standing nearby, crying his eyes out:

“Honey, I'm begging you, don't divorce me. Don't take my son away.”

"You're asking a house husband like me to pay 1.3 million? You might as well kill me!

As long as you don't divorce me, I'll be your slave, I'll do anything..."

Their blatant lies instantly enraged the onlookers.

Someone pointed at my car and started cursing, another spat on it, and a flood of ugly words washed over me:

"This woman is just awful, isn't she?

She used her husband to have kids, and now she's trying to extort money from him. She has no shame!"

"Yeah, let's get a good look at her face. If she ever tries to date again, we can't make another poor guy fall into her trap!"

"Right, take her picture and post it online. Let her colleagues and friends see what she's like. Scum like her should be fired!"

...

Olivia stood in the middle of the crowd, looking at me smugly.

What she didn't know was that I had already taken a long leave of absence from work back at the hospital.

But just wanting a divorce wasn't going to be that easy. I needed to add more fuel to the fire.

I pushed the car door open, got out, and smiled at her.

"Olivia, you're about to get married. Why would I cause trouble for you at a time like this?"

The chatter from the crowd died down a bit. Olivia was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting this reaction from me.

I took out the bank statements.

"As for the 1.3 million in compensation, why don't we take a look together and see where that money actually went?"