A Decade of Love is No Match for A Moment of Passion

On our tenth wedding anniversary, I unexpectedly discovered the anniversary gift my wife had prepared for me.

I had already seen the gift that was supposed to appear on our wedding anniversary.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I directly asked Regina Girault for a divorce.

She was working in the company and was furious.

“Stephen, have you lost your mind again? Why are you suddenly talking about divorce?”

The male assistant, George Harding, beside her, looked at my face with a playful smile.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and gave a mocking smile.

“This time I’m serious, Regina. I don’t love you anymore”

“After we get home, I’ll give you the divorce agreement to sign.”

Later, I told her, “Two people who no longer love each other have no reason to force themselves to stay together.”

Her eyes turned red and her voice trembled, “You are my man.”

“No, it wasn’t as early as when you gave me that anniversary gift.”

——

“Stephen, I have prepared your favorite black stockings for you. It’s our tenth wedding anniversary today. Let’s not fight, okay?”

After Regina returned home, she helped me, who was drunk, to the sofa and lay me down.

She was wearing a sexy black strapless minidress. Her hair was still damp, clearly having just finished showering and her body still emitted the fresh scent of shower gel.

Seeing that I was drunk, she hurried to the kitchen to cook a bowl of sobering soup.

“Don’t drink so much next time.”

Regina brought the soup. Her tone tinged with reproach.

Once upon a time, hearing her words would have made me feel sweet, but tonight, I felt numb, even drowning my sorrows in alcohol.

I didn’t respond; I just placed the divorce agreement I’d just printed out on the table, clutching it tightly in my hand.

“Regina, there’s really no future between us.”

“Sign it.”

Regina looked at me in shock. Her eyes were red.

“Stephen Berneux!”

“What’s wrong with you? I was just a bit busy this month. I admit I neglected you some time ago. It’s because I was wrong, but didn’t I also give you a 10th anniversary gift in time?”

“And I even wore your favorite dress just to please you.”

“Be good. Today is such an important day. Can we not fight?”

Regina raised her head slightly. She struggled to hold back her tears.

My hands subconsciously wrapped around her, seeking comfort.

But when I caught the scent of that repulsive cologne on her, I couldn’t help but rush into the bathroom and vomit.

By chance, I spotted a sexy lace lingerie hanging there.

There were some stains on it, though someone had tried to wipe them off. But due to the rush, they were still visible.

I stared at it blankly until Regina rushed into the bathroom and snatched it from my hands.

In that moment, I clearly saw a flash of panic in her eyes.

“Yuck! This is so dirty, I’ll take it to wash.”

She hurried away, clutching the underwear in her hand, as if afraid I would take it from her.

After taking a shower, I entered the bedroom just in time to see her smiling foolishly at her phone. She stopped smiling when she noticed I had come in.

“Honey, today is a rare day for us. Let’s not waste it, okay?”

She put her phone away and smiled at me.

Above the head of the bed, we were also hanging our wedding photos. At that time, we were smiling happily with each other.

Many people praised us at our wedding as “a perfect match, made in heaven.”

Regina suddenly turned over and pinned me down as I stared at the wedding photo.

“We haven’t done it for a month. Tonight is such an important day. So, let’s do it.”

Her hand had already reached down.

I felt a little repulsed and was about to make an excuse to get out of it when Regina’s phone rang.

She was stunned for a moment, glanced at the name on the screen and immediately jumped up, rushing to grab her phone.

I could guess who it was that made her so anxious in the middle of the night.

She hid in the bathroom to answer the phone. I glanced at the clock. The call had already lasted half an hour and showed no signs of ending.

Vaguely, I heard her joyful laughter from inside, occasionally accompanied by playful teasing into the phone. She sounded like a young girl newly in love flirting with her lover.

I stepped out onto the balcony, lit a cigarette and stared into the night sky, lost in thought.

We met at a small company under my father’s group.

At the time, I had hidden my wealthy background and wanted to start from the bottom and she was the one who greeted me.

Back then, Regina was just a junior staff member in the marketing department. In her eyes, I was just a naive newcomer who had just entered society and came from a lowincome family.

After we started dating, I secretly helped her secure several major deals. She rose quickly through the ranks, eventually becoming the marketing department manager.

We have a good impression of each other and our relationship has progressed from acquaintanceship to love. However, fate had other plans and my parents opposed our relationship.

I broke ties with my parents and insisted on marrying her. Though we lost our parents’ blessing, we still lived a happy and fulfilling life together.

I thought it would be enough to love each other.

Until one day, a new director named Timothy Liguori was transferred to the company.

Later, I found out that he was Regina’s senior, or more accurately, her exboyfriend.

Timothy was handsome, smoothtalking and very good at flattering women.

From that day on, her sense of style changed. She started wearing lace underwear, high heels and black stockings while taking selfies in front of the mirror.

One day, I teased her.

“Who are you dressing up for? I like purple.”

She blurted out, “It’s not for you to show it.”

Realizing she had said the wrong thing, she quickly explained, “Black is more formal. It’s appropriate for the workplace.”

That day, I hadn’t yet noticed these changes.

Every time I looked at our wedding photos, I felt an overwhelming sweetness in my heart, thinking that having her by my side was enough for this lifetime.

If it weren’t for the gift she gave me on our anniversary today, I might have spent my entire life unaware of what was happening.

Whether it was due to emotional trauma or the effects of the medicine, I had a high fever of 41° that night and I was in a daze.

Regina rushed around trying to bring down my fever, but my temperature wouldn’t go down. With no other option, she had to take me to the hospital herself.

But halfway through the way, her cell phone suddenly rang.

Seeing that familiar phone number, she suddenly braked regardless of whether I would hit my head.

“What! Timothy… He got into a fight after drinking?”

Realizing she had said too much, she glanced at me. Seeing my eyes closed, she assumed I was asleep and sighed in relief.

“I’ll be right there!”

After hanging up, she shook me awake.

“Stephen, there’s an urgent matter at the company. I need to go back immediately. You get out and take a taxi by yourself.”

Before I could react, she got out of the car, went around to the passenger side, unbuckled my seatbelt and helped me out.

It was more like she was forcing me out than helping me.

Watching her get into the car with such determination, the bright red taillights completely disappeared into the darkness, leaving me feeling completely numb.

I made an international call.

“Mom, Dad’s mentioned the marriage with the Liguori Family’s daughter in his will. I agreed, so please cancel my domestic registration for me. I’ll be there in three days.”

I walked more than ten kilometres with a high fever, but finally fainted on the ground due to exhaustion.

When I woke up, I found that I had been taken to the hospital. It was already the next day.

Thirsty and parched, I wanted water, but there was no one by the bed. A nurse happened to pass by and poured me a cup of hot water.

“What’s wrong with you? You have a high fever and you’re running around everywhere. Luckily, a passing driver found you and brought you to the hospital.”

“The person listed as ‘wife’ in your phone is also at fault. I called your number, but it kept hanging up and eventually it was turned off.”

“Don’t you think your wife is worried about you?”

I responded with a bitter smile, picked up my phone and saw a red dot on my feed.

I clicked on it and saw that Timothy had updated his status last night.

The caption read: [I will not betray our encounter and I have no regrets in this life.]

The ninegrid layout was filled with live photos of Regina’s every smile and expression.

She seemed to be playfully scolding him, yet her eyes were filled with nothing but affection.

The sparkling ring on her ring finger pierced my eyes sharply.

The comments section was even more lively.

[Timothy, aren’t you afraid your wife will find out you’re divorcing her?]

[Nonsense! Regina is the sisterinlaw. Timothy and Regina are the real deal.]

Timothy made a funny face.

[I’ve blocked the tiger at home. Everyone, remember to keep this a secret for me.]

He blocked his current girlfriend, my former fiancée Ursula Auxerre, but left me as the only one who could see his posts.

Just as I was about to log out of the social media app, I noticed that Timothy had sent me a link.

I accidentally clicked on it and found it was a couple’s chat room on the Line app.

It was filled with declarations of love, where the two confessed their feelings to each other and even said some explicit words of flirtation.

There were over a thousand photos, all of the two of them together, with the photo timestamps dating back as far as ten years ago.

They were hugging and kissing and even through the screen, I could feel the genuine love between them.

I flipped through my phone’s gallery. Over the past five years, the number of photos I had with Regina could be counted on one hand.

I had asked her to take photos with me hundreds of times, but every time we appeared in the frame, she would angrily push the camera away, saying she didn’t like taking photos.

It turned out she wasn’t against taking photos; it was just that the small frame couldn’t accommodate three people.

I was just the pitiful outsider excluded from her world.

I saved all the photos and screenshotted the ones Timothy had posted on his social media.

When I returned home from the hospital, I found Regina hadn’t come back. Checking the surveillance footage, I realized she hadn’t returned all night.

I looked at the crystal wedding photo hanging on the wall. At some point, the crystal had cracked, forming a line exactly between Regina and me.

I took down the wedding photo and my phone rang.

“Boss, don’t forget, today is our company’s new product launch. The event can’t go on without you. After all, you’re the architect of the entire system.”

“Got it, I’ll change and be right there.”

When I arrived at the event venue, I just heard the host inviting the responsible person to take the stage.

I straightened my suit, but before I could take a few steps, I was stopped by a figure.

“Stephen, please take a good rest. After all, you had a high fever last night. I’ve already asked Timothy to speak on your behalf.”

I looked at Regina in confusion, noticing the faint kiss mark on her halfcovered neck and felt a pang of jealousy.

She subconsciously pulled up her collar and said with a guilty look on her face.

“You also know that Timothy has only been at the company for a short time. The people below him don’t respect him yet and he needs more opportunities to prove himself.”

“You’re a senior employee at the company and everyone holds you in high regard. I’m sure you don’t care about such superficial things, right?”

As Timothy passed by me, he shot me a challenging glance and whispered in a soft voice. So, only the two of us could hear.

“You’re such a pathetic loser. Not only did I steal your wife, but all the company’s achievements are mine too.”

“Let me tell you, Regina only has eyes for me. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see.”

I remained silent, but the older employees below couldn’t sit still. Their faces filled with indignation as they whispered among themselves.

Timothy glanced at me smugly from the stage and began his passionate speech. The audience below clapped enthusiastically.

Watching him so full of confidence, Regina’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

But my heart was as cold as ice because the content of Timothy’s speech sounded very familiar to me.

It was identical to the speech I had spent a month carefully crafting. The speech manuscript was locked in my office drawer and no one except Regina could open it.

Yet the achievements I had worked so hard for had been taken by her to flatter another man.

When Timothy came down from the stage, journalists rushed to interview him.

“Mr. Liguori, it is said that the success of your company’s intelligent car system is largely due to the contributions of the architect Stephen. What do you think about this?”

Timothy shrugged it off.

“This is a bad statement. After all, a person’s power is limited. If an intelligent system is built, everyone in the team will make a contribution.”

He erased five years of hard work with just a few words.

Those years, I worked tirelessly, even sleeping at the office, with the most extended overtime session lasting 20 hours.

I poured my heart and soul into every design and every version of the plan. What broke my heart was that Regina was clapping wildly beside me.

“Timothy said it very well. He is not arrogant or impatient. He’s humbled and doesn’t take credit for himself. He’s truly remarkable.”

When she noticed my gaze, her voice trailed off.

“Stephen, that’s not what I meant. Of course, I know that you are the biggest contributor here.”

As Timothy approached, Regina lost all interest in listening to me.

“I will definitely compensate you for this matter in the future. Can we talk about anything when we go home tonight?”

After saying that, she led Timothy to his seat and sat down beside him.

Later on, huh? Did we even have a later one?

Upon returning home, the first thing I did was pack my clothes and personal belongings.

Regina was stunned and asked me what I was doing.

“Packing my things and getting ready to move out,” I said expressionlessly.

“As for the divorce agreement, I’ve already left it on the table. If you don’t want to sign it, I’ll go to court and file for divorce until we are completely separated.”

These words struck Regina like a thunderbolt, leaving her utterly shocked.

“Stephen, why do you want to divorce again?”

“You’re just causing trouble again, aren’t you? Don’t get angry, okay?”

“I’m not angry.”

“What’s the reason? Tell me the reason!”

I spoke calmly, “Do you remember what I said to you on the day we got married?”

Regina’s lips trembled slightly, but she didn’t speak.

“I can tolerate everything about you, but the one thing I cannot tolerate is betrayal.”

“What do you mean by that? Have I betrayed you?”

I said, “Whether you have betrayed me or not, you know it best in your heart.”

Regina’s face immediately turned angry.

“Stephen, tell me the truth. Did you hear any rumors?”

“Timothy works hard and strives for progress. Everyone can see that.”

“He achieved a lot as soon as he joined the company, so it’s only natural that others are jealous.”

“Do you actually believe such obvious falsehoods?”

“I’m really disappointed in you, Stephen.”

I said, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear any rumors. Everything I said was what I saw with my own eyes.”

“What did you see with your own eyes?”

“Do you remember the gift you gave me on our tenth anniversary?”

“What’s wrong with the gift? I remember it was a watch I picked out for you after a lot of consideration. It wasn’t to your liking, was it…”

Looking at Regina’s expression, she was still unaware of the truth.

I couldn’t help but snort in derision, “That day, there was no watch in the gift box. There was only a used condom.”

Regina was stunned at first and then the expression on her face suddenly became unstable.

Like a child caught in the act, she cried out, “This isn’t true!”

“I’m sorry, Stephen. I really didn’t know what was inside. And I swear I’ve never had anything to do with Timothy. Please believe me.”

“I apologize to you and beg you to forgive my ignorance. Please, Stephen?”

I waved my hand and broke free.

“If you didn’t know about the gift box, then that night, I was drunk out of my mind, yet you didn’t come home until after 3 a.m. and your leggings were missing.”

Regina’s face turned pale. “That’s impossible. Maybe I didn’t even wear any that night?”

“Not only did you wear them, but you put them on right in front of me. I remember it clearly.”

I said calmly, “If I’m not mistaken, the leggings you lost are the ones I found in the car.”

“And the lace panties that appeared in the bathroom that day were also left behind by you and Timothy, right?”

Regina’s face turned pale in an instant. “Stephen, what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Everyone in the company knows that Timothy and I are just ordinary colleagues.”

“He is my work colleague. We work closely together because of our jobs. What’s wrong with that?”

“And as old classmates, it’s only natural for me to care about him a little more.”

Regina looked flustered and her voice grew softer. But tears kept streaming down her face.

Seeing that she was still trying to play dumb, I finally couldn’t hold back anymore and picked up my luggage to leave the house.

Regina’s face turned pale. “Stephen, please listen to me!”

“Please don’t leave! It’s not what you think!”

“I’ve never done anything with Timothy.”

I cut her off. “Enough, Regina.”

“I’ve told you before, I can tolerate your domineering ways, your petty jealousy and all your flaws, but I can never tolerate your betrayal. That’s my bottom line.”

“Actually, I had already made up my mind long before the trip.”

“We were supposed to enjoy the last part of our journey together and then confront you on the seventh day.”

“But I never expected you to return to Dortmund alone on the first day because of Timothy.”

“You left so decisively, so ruthlessly.”

“I didn’t even get the chance to confront you.”

“Haha, looking back now, I was truly naive and ridiculous.”

“This fiveyear marriage was nothing but a big joke.”

Regina furrowed her brows. “Stephen, whether you believe me or not, I can swear to heaven that I am completely innocent with Timothy. I haven’t done anything to betray you!”

“The gift box I gave you on our anniversary was really out of the box.”

“You have always been the only one in my heart.”

But in the end, I packed my things and left.

In an empty room, the only items on the table were the document I left for her and a USB drive.

Seeing the words “Divorce Agreement,” Regina’s pupils contracted, but she eventually picked it up and read it carefully.

When she saw the words “get out of the house with nothing” in the agreement, her mind felt like it had been struck by lightning.

She knew me well. I had worked so hard all these years just to live a good life. How about I give up my billiondollar shares and a divorce with nothing?

As she stared at the divorce agreement in disbelief, Timothy opened the door with his own key.

Seeing the divorce agreement in Regina’s hands, a flash of brightness crossed his eyes.

But he quickly turned to comfort her.

“Regina, let me tell you, Stephen is such an ungrateful fool. He went from a struggling programmer to a highranking technical executive, all thanks to you and yet he’s still so immature, trying to use divorce to blackmail you.”

“This kind of tactic of playing hard to get is something only he would use. He’s not still holding a grudge over yesterday’s press conference, is he? That’s too petty.”

“Regina, don’t worry too much. I guarantee you that he’ll be back in no time. How could he leave a wife as beautiful as you?”

“Besides, even if he doesn’t love you, he must love money. How could he give up all that equity?”

Regina remained silent. Her hands trembled as she clutched the divorce agreement.

Even now, she couldn’t believe it was true. She suddenly found herself agreeing with Timothy’s words.

“This must be Stephen playing hard to get.”

She put the items back into the drawer and coldly said, “Fine, I’ll see how long he can hold out!”

Though she said this, she still felt uncertain inside.

On this day, Regina felt inexplicably restless. In just an hour, she checked her watch over a hundred times.

Her eyes constantly darted toward the office door. Every time she heard a sound, she secretly hoped it was me returning back to her.

But as the sky grew dark outside, I didn’t show up and not a single call came through.

Regina felt a growing sense of unease.

In the past, I had never gone more than six hours without contacting her.

By 8 p.m., she couldn’t wait any longer and called my phone number.

To her astonishment, the number was disconnected.

“How could it be disconnected? He’s been using this number for years.”

She called again, but the result was the same.

Regina suddenly remembered that she had my social media account password. After entering the password, she saw a prompt.

[Account has been deactivated]

Her anxiety grew stronger. She tried several other accounts, even logging into her bank app, but all attempts were in vain.

She couldn’t sit still anymore and called her assistant, George.

“Check Stephen’s recent personal information and see if he’s purchased any plane tickets.”

Soon, George rushed over with a grim expression and stammered, “Ms. Girault...The information shows... this person is not found and there are no flight records either.”

“Additionally, the employee in question officially resigned yesterday and has already left the company.”

This statement hit her like a thunderclap, leaving her head spinning.

“How is that possible? Only the dead will not be found!”

George’s next words sent a chill down her spine.

She never expected me to have already processed my resignation the previous day.

At that moment, Regina was completely thrown into a panic.

She couldn’t believe that I, a man she had loved for ten years, could suddenly disappear from her life without a trace.