The Secret of Second Marriage

I called my best friend Juan and told her about what happened this morning.

Juan praised me for being domineering.

She said, "Xiaoman, I never thought you, with your former gentle and timid personality, could do something so satisfying now. Hahaha, those two scoundrels must be furious."

"Juan, thank you. I ordered a small-tailed sheep lamb, since you have a bit of menstrual cramps. Lamb is the most nourishing, I'll send it to you as a New Year's gift."

I say.

Juan said, "Xiaoman, you're so thoughtful."

I ordered lamb online for over 1 yuan, and it arrived via fresh cold chain.

After I picked up the package, I personally packed it into a gift box and gave it to Juan.

At noon, my best friend Juan warmly invited me to have lunch at her house.

She lived in a three-story villa with magnificent chandeliers and antique furniture.

She instructed the kitchen to make soup with the lamb I brought.

Delicious dishes were laid out on the dining table.

She said, "Xiaoman, you've lost so much weight lately, come and eat some vegetables."

As I ate my meal, my stomach felt warm.

I asked her, "Where's your husband?"

Sister Juan's smile was somewhat cold.

She said, "My husband and I are destined for each other. He always makes excuses about business trips and comes home less than ten times a month. I've finally seen things clearly. He's never loved me; he only loves my family's money."

When Sister Juan said this, she did so quite casually.

She said, "Xiaoman, to be honest, I've been heartbroken too, but I've come to terms with it. There's no need to be sad for a man who doesn't love you. It's not worth it. We women need to learn to love ourselves."

Sister Juan and I share the same plight.

This is one of the reasons why we became good sisters.

Her husband grew tired of their marriage after his career took off.

The disdainful look in his eyes when he was with Sister Juan, and even his long-standing aloofness in not wanting to be intimate with her, were like sharp blades, deeply hurting Sister Juan.

Later, Sister Juan came to her senses.

Sister Juan's son is in high school, and her daughter is in elementary school.

She no longer focused on where her husband's heart lay, but rather on where his money was.

She sent one of her trusted confidants to take over the position of CFO in the company.

That means every single transaction in the company has to go through her hands.

Her husband was having affairs and spending hundreds of thousands of yuan, and she turned a blind eye.

But if he dares to have an illegitimate child with another woman, it will affect the interests of her son and daughter.

She could kick her husband out of the game in a heartbeat.

So for so many years, her husband only dared to play around outside, and even when she got pregnant, he would take his mistress to have an abortion. He never dared to touch her position as the legal wife.

Sister Juan turns a blind eye to her husband's behavior.

She only cares about the children.

Time flies. After dinner, I chatted with Sister Juan for a while, and then it was time for me to go to work.

As Sister Juan walked me to the door, she suddenly told me some shocking news: "To be honest, I'm not as lonely as you seem. There's someone outside..."

I stared in surprise.

She gave me a sly smile, then whispered to me, "He's a young guy. He's more than ten years younger than me, a college student. He met me while tutoring my daughter."

I like young bodies, and he likes me too. We agreed not to interfere with my family, just to satisfy each other's needs in that area...

I was shocked again.

Sister Juan said indignantly, "Hmph, does that mean he's allowed to be unfaithful outside? Who says I have to stay home alone for him!"

I looked at Juan and asked cautiously, "Does your husband know?"

Juan said, "He doesn't know. He always thought I was still deeply in love with him, waiting for him to get tired of playing around and come back to the family. Actually, he doesn't know that the reason I've ignored him for the past few years is because I no longer have any desire for him."

Moreover, I have evidence that he's having an affair. My family has a powerful background and can bankrupt his company in no time, so he wouldn't dare to do anything reckless.

I don't know what the future holds for us. Maybe, when our daughter grows up and our son successfully inherits the company, we'll both be tired of playing around and return to our families.

After all, we have children, and then there are our parents and relatives. We can't sever the bond we've built up over ten years of marriage.

That's when I realized why Juan has looked more and more elegant and beautiful over the past few years.

It turns out she was keeping a puppy on the side.

Juan advised me, "If all else fails, you can find someone else outside. Your husband is handsome and has a great career. If you divorce him, it would be too easy for the mistress."

Look at Mrs. Wang in our villa owners' group. She couldn't stand her husband having an affair, so she divorced him in a fit of anger, and they split the assets in half.

Guess what?

The man remarried immediately after his divorce, marrying a beautiful young woman with a master's degree who is reportedly a university teacher.

After her divorce, she went on many blind dates, but each one was worse than the last.

The men she's looking for are either beer bellies or bald. And the younger ones? She's afraid they're only after her money. So she's stuck in a limbo, not good enough for anyone.

Her husband is remarried and has a child with his second wife, while she's still single. She's so angry she says she'll just spend the rest of her life raising her child. She's not even forty yet, is she really going to be a widow for the rest of her life?

I may never be able to live as freely and unrestrainedly as Juan.

I closed my eyes in anguish and said, "I'd rather grow old alone than spend my life with a filthy man."

This is what I truly think.

Juan stopped trying to persuade me.

She suddenly said, "Xiaoman, you are a very pure woman. You know what? Actually, you are very beautiful. When you smile, you have shallow dimples on your cheeks, and we all call you the 'Dimpled Beauty' in private."

What's the use of purity? Once you're married, you become like rice grains on a skirt.

My husband lost interest and cheated on me.

I went to work after I left Sister Juan's place.

In the afternoon, I wore a long dress and arrived at the company.

I ran into President Jiang.

He also had the appearance of a gentleman, wearing a suit and tie, tall and handsome.

He noticed my red eyes and asked, "Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, I just got some sand in my eye."

I just made up an excuse.

I returned to my workstation and focused on my job.

During that time, when I went to print documents, I thought about my husband and his mistress, and my emotions became unstable. I cut myself on the paper.

I just wrapped it up with a tissue.

President Jiang saw it.

He told me, "Go home and rest today. Come back to work once your wound has healed."

Is a cut considered a work-related injury?

I quickly reassured them, "Boss, it's just a small opening, it's no big deal."

He, usually so refined and gentle, suddenly became stubborn, raising his voice and saying in a magnetic tone, "Miss Jiang, if I tell you to go back, then go back!"

I was a little stunned; I didn't expect him to care about me so much.

He probably noticed that I've been feeling down lately because of my husband's situation.

But I refused.

I said, "President Jiang, work is very important to me. Don't worry, I won't let personal matters interfere with my work."

Mr. Jiang gave me a band-aid and told me to go back to my workstation.

When I got back, my colleagues were all gossiping, asking what President Jiang had said to me.

I said, "It's nothing, just telling me to focus on my work."

At 6 p.m., after I clocked out of get off work, I drove to school to pick up my daughter.

When I got home, my parents-in-law had already been discharged from the hospital.

Their luggage was moved from the hospital to their home, and the sister-in-law and brother-in-law sat on the sofa eating sunflower seeds and playing on their phones.

My mother-in-law saw me come back.

She said with a displeased look, "The whole family was waiting for you to eat lunch today, why didn't you come?"

I said, "I have something to do."

Suddenly, the mother-in-law cried out in a loud voice, "Do you despise me as your mother-in-law? If you despise us, I'll go back tomorrow."

I ignored her.

She knelt on the ground and wailed, "What kind of daughter-in-law is this? She didn't even come to the hospital to see her father-in-law when he was sick, and she didn't even come to pick him up when he was discharged. Waaaaah... What have we, the Xue family, ever done to wrong you? Don't forget that you can live in a big house in the city and drive a nice car now all thanks to my son."

I said, "His career advancement is inseparable from my strong support. Everything he has today is achieved by standing on my shoulders..."

The mother-in-law yelled at the top of her lungs, "You're just a housewife! If it weren't for my son earning money to support you, who would want you?"

My daughter was so scared she cried.

I carried my daughter back to the bedroom, covered her ears, and ignored the arguing outside.

After my daughter calmed down, I cooked her a bowl of noodles in the kitchen.

We had a very simple dinner.

Now that things have come to this, I completely ignore the existence of my parents-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. Even if we're in the same house, I won't say another word to them.

After my mother-in-law finished making a scene, I called my husband and said, "Come back and do something about your mother. This is the city, not the countryside. Making such a racket in the middle of the night is disturbing the neighbors. Be careful, they might complain!"

My husband is concerned about his reputation, and since I found evidence of his infidelity, he feels guilty towards me.

He was very polite, his voice low and gentle: "Honey, you've been wronged. I'll go home and deal with it as soon as I finish this meeting."