10
“Sarah, what are you doing here?”
Mark walked over to me. The room was dark.
But I still saw the lipstick on his mouth.
The kiss must have been intense.
<
I didn’t reply. I just threw the agreement in his
chest.
“Mark, after all these years, I don’t want to
make this harder. Just sign the paper.”
Mark was stunned. Then he realized what was
happening.
“Sarah, you knew?”
I nodded. I looked at the paper.
“Since you cheated, then you have to deal with
what comes with it. Mark, we are getting a
divorce.”
Mark looked scared.
He threw the agreement on the floor and
grabbed my arms. He was begging, “Sarah, I’m
sorry. I swear that I won’t do it again. Please,
let’s not get a divorce I love you so much You
<
let’s not get a divorce. I love you so much. You
love me too. We have a kid. How can you leave
me?”
At this point, I couldn’t believe he could say
something like this.
He was using our son to guilt me.
So I slapped him.
“Why are you hitting people?!”
Meng Ran came over. When she was talking, I
slapped her too.
She was shocked and looked at Mark.
But Mark did nothing for her.
She looked at the guys. But they were all
looking away.
IIN /
<
I laughed. “You are a mistress. You should
know what it’s like to be one.”
Getting slapped is normal.
I looked at Mark again.
“Don’t try to use my son to guilt me. Do you
think I don’t know what you two are hiding from
me?”
Mark’s face went white.
11
I couldn’t find Mark for a few days.
He just disappeared.
If I couldn’t find him, I can’t get a divorce. But I
didn’t want to be married anymore.
When I didn’t know what to do.
<
Meng Ran called me.
12
We met at the cafe. She wore a bright red
dress. She was standing tall and proud.
She smiled at me. “This is the third time we
met.”
I nodded. I was calm.
“When I first met you, I knew you were the
mistress.”
I was loud. The cafe was crowded. A lot of
people looked over.
784
Meng Ran was trying to act calm. But she was
angry. “Sarah, do you know what they say? The
one that’s not loved is the real mistress?”
<
I shook my head, smiling at the young girl.
No wonder Mark liked her.
Young, beautiful, and feisty.
But she was just confused.
She’s not right in the head.
“If you are a mistress, then act like it. Don’t say
the classic mistress quotes, it just makes you
look even more like one.”
I was slow. But every word was clear.
The people around were whispering.
Meng Ran was angry. She took out some
pictures.
“Look, these are the pictures that Mark and I
took.”
<
11:07
I looked at the pictures.
I admit. Mark was happy in them.
He was happy and excited.
784
“We met by accident. We were just friends. But he said that he liked my personality. And I’m a little feisty, a firecracker. I liked him, so I never hid it. Even though I knew that he had a wife. I told him how I felt. He didn’t say no. We hugged, we kissed. We did all kinds of stuff that you can’t even imagine.”
She paused, she was showing off.
“You probably don’t know. One time when you
were on a trip. Mark said that he wanted to do
something exciting. He brought me to your
house. We messed around in your bed.”
“Oh yeah, your son was helping us keep watch
in the living room.”
My heart hurt when I heard Meng Ran say that.
But I didn’t show it. I looked at the picture and
put them away.
Meng Ran smiled.
She kept talking. Then she paused. She
grabbed my glass of water and splashed it on
herself.
“Sarah, do you think that Mark would believe
you?”
She said that, and then Mark walked in quickly.
“Mark, I was jus…”
“Sarah, are you ok?”
Mark cut her off. He looked me up and down.
When he saw that I was ok, he was relieved.
<
Then he said, “Why did you come see her?”
He looked at Meng Ran.
“I told you, you are not allowed to see Sarah.”
He was cold. Meng Ran looked like she was
about to cry.
She had ruined her makeup.
I pushed away Mark. “Don’t act like a good guy.
If you never cheated, Meng Ran wouldn’t have
to come see me. Why are you acting like it was
all her fault? You are pathetic, Mark.”
Mark’s face looked bad.
He was about to say something.
I took the pictures and said. “When you were
messing around with another woman, you
should have known this was going to hannen
<
should have known this was going to happen.
There is no way that I would forgive you.”
I looked at Mark and said, “You’re the one that
let me down. You will get a divorce as an
apology. Or I will hate you forever.”
12
Mark agreed.
But we had to wait for a month to get the
divorce certificate.
I did some calculations. It was just right.
When we left the court, Mark got a call.
“Sarah, I know you hate me. But Alex is our son.
His teacher just called. He is hurt and he’s at
the hospital.”
I didn’t say no to visiting him.
At least until Alex is of age. I still have my duty.
But it’s just a duty.
When I got to the hospital, Alex’s wound was all
wrapped up. When he saw me, he was crying.
He wanted to hug me.
I moved back.
“The doctor said you just bumped into
something. It’s nothing too serious.”
So I didn’t have to be there.
I turned around to leave.
Mark grabbed my hand. He had red eyes. He
looked sad.
“Sarah, are you really that heartless?”
I turned around and looked at him. Then I shook
off his hand.
“Did you not betray this family first?”
I didn’t look at his face or at Alex.
I left.
Maybe I was still a little sad.
But betrayal is betrayal.
I, Sarah, would never forgive that.
For a few days, both Mark and Alex kept calling
me, but I didn’t pick up.
Mark even came to my work. But I didn’t see
him.
When he got too much, I told my colleagues
<
11:07
what he did.
He couldn’t face them. So he had to leave.
794
That was until the night before the divorce was final.
That night, Meng Ran called me.
13
The phone rang and Meng Ran didn’t say
anything. It took a long time for her to talk.
“Mark, didn’t you say that we were over? Why are you back?”
I knew what Meng Ran was doing.
But I didn’t hang up.
I just wanted to experience the pain.
>
11:07
Only after enough pain, can I forget someone
that I loved.
Even if it hurts.
Then I won’t remember them again.
Mark’s voice was there too.
794
“She won’t forgive me, I’m so sad, I just need a
hug.”
“Ok, you want a hug. Sarah doesn’t want to give
it to you, I will give it to you.”
I heard kissing sounds.
And then, Mark was breathing heavily. I heard a
table fall.
The call ended.
I wanted to thank Meng Ran, for reminding me
く
I wanted to thank Meng Ran, for reminding me
how bad Mark is.
14
The next morning, I arrived at the courthouse
bright and early. Mark, predictably, was late. He
even had a freaking hickey on his neck.
As soon as he saw me, he started with the
begging again, “Sarah, after all these years, are
you really throwing it all away? I promise you,
nothing like this will ever happen again. Please,
just give me one more chance, baby?”
While he was talking, I reached out and pulled
down his shirt collar, exposing the love bite.
Then I said quietly, “Hickey, huh? Sounds like
last night was pretty wild.”
The color drained from his face.
He opened his mouth to try and explain, but
<
before he could get a word out, I played the
recording from the previous night.
Like I said, I wasn’t the one at fault here. So I
was going to get everything I deserved. And
that recording was there to protect my rights if
things got messy.
“Mark, don’t make me lose all respect for you,
okay?”
He went quiet and then, after a long pause,
looked up at me. “If this is what you want, then
I’ll do it. But my heart will never change. Even if
we’re divorced, you’ll always be my wife in my
heart. I’ll wait for you to come back from
overseas, and I’ll win you back. I know that I can
get you to forgive me.”
I just thought, Dude, you’ve got a serious ego,
where do you get this confidence?
And just like that, we finalized the divorce.
<
The property division didn’t go according to my original agreement. He seemed to be trying to
prove his determination by choosing to walk
away with nothing, except for some money set aside for Alex’s schooling. Other than that, he
had nothing.
But it was none of my business anymore.
That afternoon, I boarded a plane heading
overseas to start my new life.
15
Once I arrived overseas, I followed the
company’s plan and focused on training.
I occasionally heard some news from back.
home.
Apparently, Mark was trying to cut things off
with Meng Ran.
J
<
But Meng Ran was pregnant.
Not only that, before I left, I sent those pictures she’d given me to the dance studio.
I’m not a saint. You mess up, you pay the
consequences.
And I made two copies of those photos.
The other set? That went to Mark’s company.
He decided to cheat on me. So, his image was
no longer my concern.
After that, I didn’t really pay much attention to
things back home. I threw myself into my work.
Until three years later, when I finished my
training and came back to take my boss’s
position.
Not long after, another friend of mine said,
<
“He’s in a wheelchair now, with nothing from
the waist down. And little Alex is super skinny,
looks like he’s not doing well at all.”
The colleague who picked me up from the
airport knew about my history with Mark.
He looked at me with disdain and scoffed, “Oh,
look who it is! It’s Mr. Mark! Oh, wait, my bad.
You got fired from your company a while ago.
You cheated on your wife, got your side piece
pregnant, and wouldn’t take responsibility. So
then, your mistress came to your office and the
two of you fought in the streets. I guess karma
caught up with you, huh? Got hit by a car? And
now you’re legless and your mistress is
probably still laid up somewhere. What a joke.
What goes around, comes around, I guess?”
Listening to my colleague, I understood how he
ended up the way he was.
Mark was no longer the successful man he
<
used to be three years ago.
794
He was pushing his wheelchair, and he came up
to me with Alex. There was a mix of begging
and shame in his eyes.
دو
“Sarah, I’ve waited three years for you.”
Alex also said shyly, “Mom, please forgive me
and Dad, let’s go home.”
Looking at the two of them, I suddenly burst
out laughing.
I only said one thing.
And that was-
“You’re both disgusting. And besides, do you
even think you deserve me?”
[THE END]
