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When Minds Aren't on the Same Level, Arguing Is Self-Destruction
NovelShort
Completed
On the drive home from a business trip, I put on a podcast without thinking: "If your wife cheated on you, would you still forgive her?" A woman from my own city called in: "Not only did my husband forgive me, he even signed the house and the car over to me." "But then I cheated again." "He can't perform. He can't get me pregnant." "My in-laws wanted a grandson, so they sent his best friend into my bed."
Chapters (4)
第1章
On my way home from a business trip, I casually turned on a podcast:
"After your wife cheats on you, would you still forgive her?"
A female guest from the same city called in:
"My husband not only forgave me, he even transferred the houses and cars into my name."
"But I cheated again."
"He can't do it—he can't get me pregnant."
"My in-laws wanted a grandson, so they sent his best friend into my bed."
"I'm pregnant now, and I don't know how to tell my husband."
I gripped the steering wheel tight.
For no clear reason, panic rose in my chest, and I called my wife.
The familiar ringtone rang out through the podcast.
After she hung up, that woman's voice asked:
"My husband just called me. Did he find something out?"
...
My chest went tight and airless, so I pulled the car over to the side of the road and lit a cigarette.
A month ago, I found out Wendy was having an affair, and she cried and begged me to forgive her.
My parents came to talk me around too, saying I was never home and that I should be understanding of her.
Gerard drank with me all night and said:
"Brother, I really don't want to see the two of you divorce."
"You dated in college and got through three years of long distance in grad school."
"What a woman wants most is emotional support and a sense of security. Honestly, this one's your fault."
After I got home, Wendy slit her wrists.
I rushed her to the hospital in a panic, and the first thing she said when she woke up was:
"John, let's not divorce, okay?"
My heart twisted, and I agreed.
For Wendy's sense of security, I transferred five houses and three cars into her name.
A month later, she cheated again.
This time, she was pregnant.
The podcast went on.
The host kept asking:
"So why can't your husband have children?"
"When we got married, I wanted to be childless, so I had him get a vasectomy."
The host cut her off:
"Ma'am, let me correct you. Your husband isn't infertile—he did it for you, to be childless."
"If you want a child, just have your husband get it reversed. Why use another man to father a child?"
Right, why?
I'd like to know too.
But Wendy didn't answer.
The host kept asking:
"Then why don't you get a divorce?"
Wendy hemmed and hawed:
"My husband supports our whole family, including my in-laws."
"What about his friend?"
"His friend works at my husband's company too."
"Right now all I want is a way to keep the child without divorcing."
The host was a little at a loss for words:
"Getting forgiven for cheating once is already good enough—there won't be a second time."
"So either you abort the child and live a good life with your husband."
"Or you get ready to divorce him."
Wendy hesitated a few seconds, then said:
"But my husband really loves me. He'll definitely forgive me."
"I'll think about it some more. The main thing is I really do want a child."
A ding.
The call dropped.
I lowered my head and gave a self-mocking laugh.
When we got married, Wendy was the one who insisted on being childless, and now she's the one who wants a child.
She doesn't want to have a child with me, but she wants to keep Gerard's.
The phone rang.
It was Gerard.
"John, are you back from your trip yet?"
"Your wife's worried about you, so she asked me to call and check in."
I shot back:
"Is that so? You're with Wendy?"
Gerard raised his voice, like he was trying to prove something:
"No, how could I be?"
"Your wife's home alone. It wouldn't be right for me to go over."
"Then tell her I'll be home soon."
With that, I hung up.
I looked at the call recording and pretended I hadn't heard the woman's voice in the background.
I opened the robot vacuum's video feed on my phone.
A week away on business, and every single day there was a pair of men's leather shoes.
I knew those shoes. They were a birthday gift I gave Gerard.
Ten thousand, custom-made.
I turned the key. Thirty minutes to home.
Enough time for them to clean up.
The elevator doors opened, and my parents were blocking the door.
"John, Wendy went out to buy groceries for you. We forgot our keys."
Listening to the sounds inside, watching my parents scramble to cover for her, my heart went cold, inch by inch.
So my parents had known all along.
They'd hidden it all from me, just to get a grandson.
"Dad, Mom, our place has a keypad lock. Did you forget?"
I stepped past them, and before I even keyed in the code, the door opened.
Gerard stood in front of me, pulling up his pants.
第2章
Several lipstick marks on the collar of a white shirt.
He stared at me blankly, as if he hadn't caught up with what was happening.
Wendy urged him from behind:
"Gerard, hurry up and go! Didn't my husband say he'd be back soon?"
The taut string in my brain snapped.
I said flatly:
"No need. I'm already back."
I walked into the room without even changing my shoes.
Gerard followed close behind:
"John, let me explain. It's not what you think."
Mom and Dad put away the fruit knife on the table:
"John, don't do anything rash and hurt my precious grandson."
Wendy's neck was covered in kiss marks, and she grabbed my arm:
"Honey, Gerard just came over to use the bathroom for a shower."
I shook Wendy's hand off:
"Podcast FM90.5."
"Wendy, I know everything."
Wendy's face went pale:
"Honey, don't you never listen to podcasts?"
"The baby was just an accident. We can raise him together."
"Honey, what do you think?"
I looked at her wearily:
"Wendy, we already made a scene last time, so let's just cut it short this time. Let's get a divorce."
My mom shot to her feet:
"I won't allow you to divorce!"
"If you two split up, who's going to raise my precious grandson?"
My father spoke in a low, heavy voice too:
"John, you can't have children. You have to admit your own defect."
"Our Delgado line can't be left without an heir. You should be grateful Gerard is willing to father a child for you."
I stared at my parents in disbelief:
"Dad, Mom, there's nothing wrong with the quality of my fertility."
"I only got sterilized back then because Wendy wanted to stay childless."
"If you want a grandson, why raise someone else's child?"
Gerard spoke awkwardly:
"John, I know this is about a man's dignity, and I understand you not wanting to admit it."
"When we went to get our fertility qualification rates checked together, yours was under 1 percent, while mine was 54 percent."
"Your parents trust me, which is why they let me help Wendy get pregnant."
"You should have some sympathy for how badly they want a grandchild."
My dad nodded in satisfaction:
"John, you may be highly skilled at your work, but when it comes to being a decent person, you still need to look to Gerard."
"You can't get far going it alone. Don't be so petty."
My fertility qualification rate was clearly over 60 percent!
Back then, when Gerard couldn't find a job after graduation, I was the one who brought him into the company and gave him a salary of twenty thousand a month.
And now he had deceived my parents and betrayed me alongside Wendy.
I stared at Gerard:
"Gerard, I know I never treated you badly, so why are you doing this to me?"
Wendy stepped in front of him:
"Honey, don't talk about Gerard like that."
"It's all my fault. If you want to hit or curse someone, take it out on me."
Gerard put his arm around Wendy's waist:
"Wendy, I can't even bear to wear you out in bed—how could I let John hit or curse you?"
My stomach churned:
"Wendy, doesn't it disgust you to call me 'honey'?"
"Since the two of you love each other so deeply, divorcing me works out perfectly for you!"
My mom slapped the table:
"Enough. We came here today to take Wendy to her prenatal checkup."
"John Delgado, don't upset her. It'll affect the baby's development."
第3章
My dad stood up too and handed Gerard the keys to the new car I'd just bought him:
"Gerard, Wendy's pregnant. You've done this family a great service."
"This car's yours now. From now on, you're my godson."
Gerard took the keys and smiled:
"Thank you, Uncle Carter."
"Still calling me uncle?"
"Thank you, Dad."
The four of them talked and laughed as they walked out the door, their backs the very picture of happiness.
Nobody asked for my opinion.
Fine. If that's how it is, I want the divorce, and I don't want this home either.
I got in touch with a divorce lawyer:
My wife cheated on me twice and is now pregnant. I'd like a divorce agreement.
He replied quickly:
The other party is the one at fault, so you can demand all the property back.
I hesitated for a few seconds:
Okay. Then let her walk away with nothing.
Last time, I already gave Wendy a chance.
This time, I want to give myself a chance.
A chance to make them pay the price.
After printing out the divorce agreement, I went out and had a meal at a restaurant I'd booked.
At six in the evening, Wendy and the other three came home talking and laughing.
I sat on the couch and held the divorce papers out to her:
"Sign it."
Wendy opened it, and the words "walk away with nothing" stung her:
"Honey, I just wanted a baby so badly."
"I don't want a divorce."
My mom snatched the divorce agreement and tore it up:
"John Delgado, so now you won't even listen to your own mother?"
"Am I hurting you by telling you to have a son? It's for your own good. You'll understand when you're old."
Wendy's stomach growled:
"Honey, I'm hungry."
Wendy doesn't work. I gave her fifty thousand dollars a month for living expenses.
I never let her touch the housework, and I did the cooking when I got home.
But now that she was tangled up with Gerard, everything I'd ever done for her looked like a joke.
My mom smacked me on the head:
"Wendy said she's hungry. Are you deaf?"
"Go cook, now. Don't let my precious grandson go hungry."
I stayed put and messaged the lawyer to print another copy of the divorce agreement.
Gerard stood up and kissed Wendy.
"I'll go cook. After all, it's my child Wendy's carrying."
When the food was done, Gerard set a bowl of noodles down in front of me:
"John, you should eat something too."
"Don't worry, once the kid's born, he'll call you Dad and me Uncle."
The way he said it, you'd think I'd come out ahead at his expense.
"I'm going to divorce Wendy. The child is yours, and it has nothing to do with me."
Gerard suddenly let out a scream and splashed the bowl all over me.
The scalding broth burned my skin red and raised a patch of blisters.
Wendy and my parents all crowded around Gerard, though not a single drop of the broth had landed on him.
I stood up to go rinse it off in the bathroom.
Wendy blocked my way:
"Honey, Gerard meant well. How could you scald him like that?"
"Apologize to Gerard, and we'll let it go."
I stared at Wendy:
"He splashed me. And I'm supposed to apologize to him?"
"Wendy, are you blind?"
Smack!
My mom slapped me hard across the face:
"Is that any way to talk to my precious grandson?"
I covered my cheek and demanded loudly:
"Mom, Wendy's baby has no blood relation to you at all. Why do you insist on protecting her?"
"Of course it does! Gerard is my godson, so Wendy's baby is my own grandchild!"
"All these years I raised you for nothing—you can't even father a child!"
My dad spoke up too:
"John, I always said you don't know how to handle people. You should learn a thing or two from Gerard."
Beaming, my mom pushed Wendy and Gerard into the master bedroom:
"Give it your all tonight. Maybe you'll even hit twins."
I looked at the four of them, disappointed, then turned and walked out of the house.
第4章
I went to the hospital alone and had the reversal surgery.
I went to the hospital alone and had the reversal surgery.
Three years of a childless marriage, like a joke.
After the surgery, the doctor told me:
"Your fertility rate is over sixty percent. That's excellent."
"If you want children in the future, there won't be any problem."
The nurse beside him hurried over with a prenatal checkup form:
"Dr. Lambert, the family that came in for the prenatal checkup today—the fetus has a developmental deformity."
Joshua frowned:
"Have you looked into the cause?"
"It's from the man's low fertility. His conception survival rate is under ten percent."
"What's the pregnant woman's name?"
"Wendy Simmons."
"Recommend termination. Notify the family tomorrow."
I froze for a moment. Joshua handed me the test results:
"Come back for a follow-up in a week."
As I walked out of the hospital, I suddenly wanted to laugh.
The precious grandson my parents had been longing for was a deformed child.
Wendy cheated and got pregnant, and she picked a man who couldn't do it.
What a fitting punishment!
I made do at a hotel for the night and got to the company early the next morning.
Gerard was sitting in my office, one leg crossed over the other.
I frowned:
"Gerard, what are you doing in my office?"
Gerard raised an eyebrow and smiled:
"John, Dad already transferred the company to me last night."
"I'm the general manager now. You're fired."
My heart lurched:
"What did you say?"
Most of the company's shares were in my father's hands.
But I never imagined he would hand over the company I'd worked so hard to build to someone else.
My parents came in from outside with Wendy:
"Last night you insisted on divorcing Wendy, and we were afraid you'd act on impulse and affect the baby."
"After all, last time you kicked up a fuss demanding to bring Gerard in."
"Once you've calmed down, the company will be given back to you."
I looked at my parents, a wave of helplessness rising in me:
"Dad, you'd give the company away over an outsider's child?"
My mother had her arm around Wendy:
"Whoever can give me a grandson is my real son."
"John, take your mother's advice. If you divorce now, you're the one who'll regret it."
I took out the reversal surgery report:
"Is that so?"
"There's nothing wrong with my fertility. The one with the problem is Gerard."
Gerard flew into a rage, humiliated:
"John, just because you can't do it doesn't mean you get to frame me."
I said flatly:
"Whether it's a frame-up or not, we'll know in a minute."
Wendy's phone rang. I was kind enough to put it on speaker for her:
"Is this Ms. Simmons?"
"You came in for a prenatal checkup at our hospital yesterday, and the results are in."
Gerard raised an eyebrow at me smugly:
"John, this is what real ability looks like."
"Don't be so eager. Keep listening."
The doctor paused for a few seconds, then spoke.
"Because of the man's low fertility, the fetus you're carrying is deformed. The hospital recommends that you terminate the pregnancy."
"If you insist on carrying to term, the child will have incomplete limbs and poor brain development."
Wendy's phone dropped to the floor.
I took out the printed divorce agreement:
"Sign it, Wendy."
