Chapter 3

3

Mark and I had been together since high school.

We'd been dating for ten years.

Before the wedding, I'd even spent a month putting together a heartwarming scrapbook of our relationship.

Now, reality slapped me in the face.

Those seemingly beautiful memories, when I thought about them, were full of cracks.

Somewhere along the way, Mark had lost his patience and tenderness with me.

He'd stopped putting me first and started criticizing me for not being a good wife.

Sometimes he'd get angry over the smallest things, blowing them out of proportion.

Every time we argued, he'd apologize, and I'd forgive him.

After all, we had the pressure of school, then the pressure of work.

Adult life is hard, and as his partner, I should be understanding.

Because of love, I kept giving in, until there was nothing left.

Two years ago, our high school teacher's daughter came back from studying abroad.

Mark gave her a job as his assistant.

They were always together, flirting at work and spending time together.

When my parents came to visit, they happened to see them laughing and walking around town.

But when they asked about it, Mark got defensive, accusing my parents of not trusting him.

In fact, my parents were just making conversation, and he felt guilty.

That night, Mark didn't come home for dinner.

He didn't answer my texts or calls.

My parents felt bad. "Honey, we trust Mark, but we talked too much."

The next morning, my parents left without eating breakfast.

That day, we had our first big fight.

Afterward, Mark was upset. He didn't understand why I was being so emotional.

He forgot that since meeting him, my parents had treated him like a son.

Later, he'd always make excuses not to go back to my hometown.

When my parents asked, I'd always make excuses for him, and even bought gifts for them, pretending it was from him.

Now I realized that all of this was just me trying to pretend.

I thought high school love was the purest thing, but I forgot that love isn't like family. It has an expiration date.

When Mark said he wanted to have a baby with Sarah, I suddenly realized that my love story was probably already over.

Mark and I were done.