After seeing that little item in Linda's handbag, it felt like my whole world collapsed. I lay back down on the floor mattress, zipped up her bag slowly, and stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling completely hollow inside—heartbroken and crushed.
Linda came out of the shower soon after, wearing a pink pajama set. She was still beautiful, still radiant, but as I looked at her face, all I saw was unfamiliarity. Her smile, which once charmed me, now looked utterly fake.
"Huh? Andrew, you're still awake?"
She noticed I hadn't fallen asleep and tried to start a conversation. But I didn't want to respond. I turned my back to her coldly.
"What's with you? Not only are you ignoring me, now you're showing me your back too? Really unreasonable."
I was usually so accommodating to Linda—always attentive, always trying to please. But tonight, my indifference confused her. This sudden change in attitude made her a bit angry.
With my back to her, I sniffled quietly. I thought I'd grown tougher recently. Not even John could break me. But right now, I realized how fragile I still was.
Maybe this was all a joke from the start. The moment I agreed to become a live-in son-in-law for the Zhang family, tragedy had already been written into my story. Linda never loved me. And yet, I still naively tried to protect her, hoping one day she'd fall for me. Everything I had done for her... was laughable in hindsight.
She got into bed and flipped through a fashion magazine, seemingly restless. A moment later, she said, "Andrew, I'm really thirsty. Can you go get me a pear from the fridge?"
Since our relationship had slightly improved, she'd started asking me to do little errands for her often. I'd always been happy to oblige—after all, she was my goddess. But tonight, I was filled with resentment and didn't move or speak.
Linda knew I was awake. She just didn't understand why I was treating her so coldly. In her eyes, she was always the princess, and I was just a summoned knight who came and went at her will. But now, not only was I disobedient—I was giving her attitude. She couldn't take it.
What she didn't know was that this was the only form of protest I could manage. I wasn't even allowed to be jealous, to question her fidelity, or even to be angry. That's the pathetic fate of a live-in son-in-law.
Linda set the magazine aside, got out of bed, walked over, and nudged me lightly with her foot—half teasing, half annoyed: "Are you sick or something? Why aren't you saying a word?"
I suddenly turned around, eyes red and bloodshot, staring at her. Linda was startled. "You…"
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I bit my lip and rasped, "Yeah, I *am* sick. If I weren't sick, I wouldn't have agreed to become your Zhang family's live-in son-in-law. If I weren't sick, I wouldn't have fallen for you. If I weren't sick, I wouldn't have deluded myself into thinking I could earn your love. I'm sick, but at least I'm not a whore like you. If you didn't love me, why drag me into this? I may be lowly, but I have dignity too. You could've rejected me—we could've gone our separate ways. Did you ever care how I felt?"
Linda's eyes widened with fury. "All I did was ask you to get me some fruit, and now you're acting all hurt? And how dare you insult me like that? You owe me an explanation—what do you mean calling me a whore?!"
I sneered, "You know exactly what I mean."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Spit it out!"
I was done holding back. I pointed at her handbag and snapped, "You want me to say it? Fine. That condom in your bag—what's that about? Was it left over from your night out with some random guy at the nightclub? Is that clear enough for you?"
Linda froze for a moment, then seemed to recall something—but instead of explaining the condom, she shouted, "Andrew, how dare you go through my personal things!"
"Yes, I did," I shouted back. "If I hadn't, I'd still think you weren't a slut!"
"Bastard!"
Tears streamed down Linda's face as she slapped me—hard. My lip split open, blood trickling out.
Our shouting quickly woke her parents. They knocked frantically on the door. Her father called out, "Andrew? Qingqing? What's going on in there? Open the door!"
Linda, still crying, opened the door. Her mother Xu Shuqin saw her daughter in tears and instantly turned on me, yelling, "Why are you bullying my daughter? Want me to throw you out of this house?"
I said bitterly, "No need to kick me out. I'll leave on my own."
I had no reason to stay anymore. My heart was completely broken. I walked toward the front door, heavy-footed.
Her father, who'd always treated me well, tried to stop me. "Andrew, what happened?"
I gently pulled away and gave him a sad smile. "Ask *her*."
Then I stepped out of the Zhang house, alone, lost, and wandered aimlessly into the night. Somehow, I ended up at Zhushan Park, where I used to train with my father-in-law. Under a thick tree, I clenched my fist and punched the trunk hard. The tree shook slightly, and bark scraped my knuckles, drawing blood.
But the pain in my hand was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. I punched again and again, faster and harder. The tree rang out with thuds, and soon my fists were a mess of torn skin and blood.
What I didn't know was that back at the Zhang house, Linda was wiping away tears in the living room. Her father, Zhang Dagui, sighed after hearing her side of the story and said, "You should've just explained things to him."
Linda's eyes were still red. "Why should I? He invaded my privacy and humiliated me without even asking questions. Why should I explain anything?"
Xu Shuqin snapped, "Exactly! That guy is petty and useless. I told you he was unreliable. Even if you *were* with another man—"
"Enough with the nonsense!" Zhang Dagui interrupted angrily. "They're a young couple who had a misunderstanding. Do you really have to make it worse?"
Though Xu Shuqin ran the household, Zhang Dagui had the final word on major issues. After a moment's thought, he asked Linda, "Since it's just a misunderstanding, should I go explain to Andrew?"
Linda snorted, "No one needs to talk to him! What, does he think I need him or something? If he's mad, let him stay mad! I'm even angrier!"
I ended up spending the night in the park because I didn't know where else to go. I couldn't return to the Zhang house, and I couldn't go home either—I had already "married into" the Zhang family. Now this had happened, and I didn't know how to explain it to my own family.
So in the end, I gritted my teeth and went back to school.
When Bucktooth and the Luo brothers saw the injuries on my hands, they were shocked. "Did John and his crew jump you again?"
I said no, then collapsed on my bunk and slept the entire day.
The next day—Monday—we had our usual flag-raising ceremony. School rules required uniforms. I forced myself out of bed, cleaned up, and put on my uniform jacket before heading to the field with Bucktooth and the others.
On the way, Bucktooth noticed something. He grabbed me and asked, "Andrew, what the hell?"
I was confused. "What are you talking about?"
He pointed to the torn spot on my sleeve. "Harper worked so hard to patch that up for you—and you tore it off?! What's wrong with you?"
I felt a little guilty but still defended myself. "She sewed on a girly patch. How was I supposed to wear that?"
The Luo brothers caught up and, after finding out what happened, joined Bucktooth in scolding me for being prideful and ungrateful.
"Let's see how you explain this to Harper later," they said.
I mumbled, "It's my own jacket. I didn't like the patch. She shouldn't get mad over that, right?"