His Kindness to Me Almost Drives Me Crazy

On the day when Asher Dunlap's song became popular everywhere, I asked him for a divorce.

My friends thought I was crazy, saying that Asher treated me so well. Now he was so successful. They thought of me as a scumbag.

"But I am the only one who knows that I will indeed go crazy if I don't leave."

"But it seems that they don't like the song I released this time. I know I'm not good enough, but I spent a long time writing it. I kept thinking about how to improve it all the time. I tried so hard." Asher looked gloomy.

I took a deep breath and suppressed the impatience in my heart. My head was dizzy. I could fall asleep at any moment.

"Everyone has their preferences. It doesn't mean you're not good enough. Look, you said the same thing about your previous songs, but they sold well."

I found that I seemed to be wasting my efforts. Exhausting the last bit of patience, I emphasized and said, "I'm so tired today. Let's talk about this tomorrow when I wake up."

"Okay." Asher paused for a few seconds. He glanced at me with a bit of resentment, saying, "But it is so important to me..."

I told myself not to say anything. I drank the water and went straight back to the room. I didn't want to continue comforting Asher.

"Why don't you answer me? Are you angry? Sorry, I'm too sad. Please don't be angry, okay? Don't be silent in front of me. It will make me sad."

Asher came over and hugged me. Taking away the cup of water that I had only taken a sip from, he was determined to focus my attention on him.

I felt suffocated.

I looked down at my empty palm. I no longer could hold myself back.

"Can you be quiet for a while?" I spoke calmly as the exhaustion overwhelmed me.

"It has been half an hour since I came home. During this period, I did nothing except comfort Asher.

Asher couldn't sense my despair and plea. He stared at me with his eyes wide open as if I said something extraordinary.

"I know he is going to do it again."

I begged, looking into Asher's eyes. I struggled to make him know my meaning.

"I have been working all day. After work, I went to the hospital. My father's condition has not improved. My mother keeps crying. I am so tired. I know you are unhappy, but I don't have the energy today."

Asher shut up with his Adam's apple moving. He didn't find my explanation acceptable.

"But you can't speak to me like this, can you? You haven't been talking to me properly these days."

"Didn't we talk properly in half an hour? I can't understand what Asher's standards are. I am interacting with him depending on his mood."

I reiterated weakly, saying, "My dad has been sick during this period. You know that. Asher, please. Let me sleep for a while before we talk."

My heart was beating fast. I was a little panicked, suspecting that I might die suddenly from overwork in the next second. Weirdly, I had a sense of relief as if I wanted to get rid of something.

"If I die, I won't be so tired, right?"

I lowered my head. Before Asher could say anything, I straddled back to my bedroom and fell into a sound sleep.

However, it was the worst thing I did that day. When Asher was not happy, I acted on my own without getting his consent.

"So, it is my fault that I am awakened by a burst of cell phone ringing in the middle of the night."

Asher wasn't by my side. I didn't have time to think about it. I picked up the cell phone and answered the call.

"What did the staff at the hospital say?"

"What are you talking about?" It was a call from Kellan Shawn, a friend of Asher.

"Sorry, I thought it was my mom." I raised my hands to cover my eyes. Feeling relaxed and somewhat drowsy, I asked, "Is something wrong?"

"How can you ask that?" A female interjected sharply. Jessa Doyle angrily accused me over the call, saying, "Asher said he wanted to jump into a river and killed himself. How come you're still sleeping at home? Are you his wife?"

I was stunned for a moment. Then I hurriedly got up and grabbed my coat before rushing to where they were.

Asher sat by the river. Kellan and Jessa stayed by his side. Seeing me coming, Kellan frowned, and Jessa glared at me fiercely.

I ignored them, lowered my voice, and cautiously tested Asher. I asked, "Asher, it's cold by the river. Shall we not stay here?"

"Fortunately, Asher is emotionally stable, so I should be able to coax him well."

"Don't bother with me anymore. This is just the way I am. Stuck in an awkward place, I aim for the high and am too lazy to lower myself. It's normal for you to be impatient with me." Asher spoke indifferently without looking at me.

The wind by the river gave me a headache, and Asher's words made me disgusted. A thought suddenly came to my mind. I thought it would be better to jump in myself.

I was startled by such a thought. Panicking, I kept telling myself in my mind, "This is not my idea."

"Dad and mom need me. Asher is right in front of me."

I smiled stiffly and said, "No, your songs have always sold well. I assumed there wouldn't be any problems. I have always believed that you are the best."

Asher turned around and looked at me, saying, "But you..."

"I'm sorry, I was a bit impatient today, which was why I spoke harshly. I have reflected on it."

"But should I reflect on it?" Without much thought, I continued to smile, and said, "Can you forgive me?"

I spoke nonstop. Asher finally agreed not to stay here in the middle of the night. He forgave me generously.

"I can only be grateful for this."

Before leaving, Kellan grabbed me with displeasure. He said, "Asher is always more sensitive. Don't argue with him."

"He was willing to spend several months helping you find a discontinued doll for your birthday gift. Can't you treat him better? You have no conscience."

After Jessa said so, Kellan glared at her, but he did not refute.

"They always do this. Whenever Asher is unhappy, they will say that it is because I treat him badly. They will never be willing to believe that we don't even argue most of the time. No one cares about my emotions."

But I was so tired. I nodded silently. I wanted to get back to fall asleep as soon as possible. After all, it was not long until dawn.

"What I don't understand is why I was forgiven, only to be pushed to the edge."

As soon as I entered the house, Asher came up to me with beaming joy in his eyes.

"You're back? I made your favorite dish. Come and try it."

I was a little surprised. Asher was rarely happy like he was now. Then I realized that Asher was usually happy because of the songs he had written.

"Someone booked my song. This time, it's by a big star, it's going to be a theme song." Asher shared his joy with me incessantly. Then he looked at me, saying, "Why do you seem unhappy? You shouldn't impose negative emotions onto your partner."

In the end, he had a hint of warning in his words.

"What should I say? Should I tell him that I was informed to be mentally prepared? After all, my dad may not live much longer. Will Asher relate to and sympathize with me?"

"I don't want to take the risk. I don't want to be woken up and blamed in the middle of the night again."

So, I forced a smile like a puppet.

"I will pay attention to it. I won't do so again next time."

"Perfect. Go wash your hands. The food won't taste good if it gets cold later." Asher finally let me go, looking satisfied.

At the dining table, I dared not miss any of his words for fear of missing out on every emotion he expressed.

Luckily, I didn't make any mistakes today.

I watched as Asher had been smiling. Then I cautiously brought up the topic.

"I took a few days off."

Asher's eyes lit up. He asked, "So you mean you can stay at home all the time?"

I struggled to speak. But my words were getting stuck in my throat. I said, "Dad is not doing well. I plan to stay with Mom for a while. I must go to the hospital. So, I won't be coming back here for now."

Seeing him silent, I was frightened and nervous.

"Mom is not in a good state. She has been crying. I am a bit worried."

"What about me?" Asher no longer looked happy. He felt a little lonely.

"What's wrong with him? Is he sick or dying?"

I was confused again.

Holding my luggage, I was about to leave. Asher looked at me without saying a word.

"Aren't you going to stay at my mom's place for a while?"

I felt suffocating anxiety.

"No, I won't be there." Asher emphasized, saying, "That's not my home. Our home is here."

Asher's parents had been divorced early on. I knew he had always been obsessed with the idea of having a family. He wouldn't let me leave, so I wisely kept my mouth shut and refrained from saying anything that might upset him.

I kept thinking on the way as to whether I shouldn't have left him. Upon opening the door, I regretted not coming earlier to take care of my mother.

Clothes on the sofa were piled up randomly. It was hard to tell if they had been washed or not. The dishes and utensils from the day when my father fainted were still piled up in the sink.

There was a trash can by the bed filled with used tissues.

Since the day my dad fainted, the time had come to still be here.

Asher had been messaging me. It seemed like he had never been in a good mood.

[Is it because you hate me that you don't come home? Maybe I don't deserve to have a family. I'm not worthy of you.]

[Did I hold you back? Can I talk to you?]

[My new song is about to be released. I want to tell you such news, yet I dare not. Will you find me annoying?]

I tried my best to tell him that I was swamped, and I couldn't leave my mother. Her situation was quite bad. I reassured him that I loved him. I wouldn't find him annoying.

All my efforts were in vain. It seemed that he didn't believe anything I said.

"It's like he's forcing me to surrender and to bow my head."

"I won't do it. But I forget that Asher will always have helpers."

"Or maybe I don't expect that Asher will ever try to show consideration to me."

It was at midnight again that I got a call from a familiar number.

I was startled by this phone call, anxiously observing if my mother had been awakened.

My mother had been sleeping a little lately. Now, she was looking at me sleepily.

I answered the call with a frown.

Jessa shouted at me, saying, "Didn't you take what I said to you last time seriously? Are you happy to see Asher in such a desperate state? Or do you hope he dies?" I even felt her voice echoing in the hospital.

"Tell me what happened to Asher."

"You didn't come to Asher's celebration party. He almost drank himself to death because of you. Are you pretending to be in the dark? How did Asher end up marrying a trash like you? If you are still a human being, get over here right now!"

She immediately hung up.

I was scolded inexplicably. Asher didn't tell me about such a celebration party at all.

Then I received a voice message from Asher. He was apologizing to me while he was drunk.

[Sorry, you've been too busy lately. I was afraid of disturbing you, so I didn't tell you about my celebration party. My song got a lot of positive feedback when it was first released. I invited my friends to have a meal at a restaurant around the corner of a street near our house. Focus on your things. Don't listen to Jessa's nonsense. I didn't drink."

Coincidentally, I didn't know the address, so he revealed it.

I was shocked by such a coincidence.

"Was he intentionally not telling me first and using his friends to pressure me? Was he eliminating any chance for me to stay in the hospital and refuse to attend the banquet?"

"Alice, go to him. I'm here with your father." My mom seemed to see through my reluctance. She gently persuaded me, saying, "If anything happens, I'll call you. Our family can't afford any more accidents."

After saying that, my mom turned her head and wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. My dad, lying stiffly beside her, showed no signs of waking up.

Asher seemed to have put a dog collar on me around my neck, making it hard for me to breathe.

I felt uneasy, sitting in the car. It was as if my intuition kept reminding me that something was about to happen.

But I didn't know if it would take place in the hospital or Asher's side.

As I looked at the night scene outside the window, my thoughts ran wild. While praying for a miracle to happen and for my father to be safe, I randomly speculated whether Asher was deliberately deceiving me. I was wavering between affirmation and denial.

I was a little scared when I pushed open the door to a private box. I was afraid that my relationship was all about onesided demands and intentional deception.

The moment I opened the door, Asher greeted me with a smile on his face. Although he couldn't be considered sober, he walked steadily.

I was stunned, asking, "Didn't you drink a lot of alcohol?"

"Didn't Jessa say you were going to die?"

"I didn't say that. Jessa lied to you. Don't be angry." When Asher said this, he didn't hide the satisfaction and pleasure in his eyes.

I smiled bitterly. He didn't need to hide anything. He had always known my love for him and my tenderness very well.

"Alice? Don't be angry..." Asher seemed to sense that something was wrong with me.

"Asher, are you spoiling her too much?!" Jessa stood up and angrily knocked on the table, saying, "She did something wrong, but you are being so gentle. I wonder if someone in her family is dying. She didn't even come to her husband's celebration party!"

My ears were buzzing. I only caught the last sentence she said.

I kicked Jessa's stomach hard. She screamed in pain, hunched over, and covered her stomach. I grabbed her hair forcefully and pulled her to look at me.

"Take your words back. Damn it!"

Asher grabbed my arm and said, "What are you doing, Alice? Let go of Jessa!"

In my eyes, there was only Jessa. She twisted and cried, but she didn't apologize or take back her words.

Kellan wanted to come over and pull my hand away. I picked up a bottle of wine and smashed it on the table.

Jessa screamed.

I held a broken bottle in my hands, forcing the people around me to step back. In the end, I pointed the bottle at Jessa's face.

"Apologize to me!"