After My Childhood Sweetheart Took Me Away, My Wife Went Crazy

So when I found out she was pregnant, I accused Irene of being a liar, stormed over to her place and punched George twice. After she heard about it, she had people dig up my grandmother’s grave. In that moment, I felt like I had died. My heart felt like it was being pierced by countless needles, bleeding with every beat. My face drained of color, ghostly pale. I asked her, “Have you lost your mind?” When she was down and out of her luck, wasn't it my grandmother who fed her? How else would she have survived this long? Before my grandmother died, she treated Irene like a granddaughter and divided her life savings into two halves, a half for me and a half for her. She believed we would live well. She never imagined that ten years later, Irene could actually bring people to dig up her grave. I let out two hollow laughs filled with ridicule and coughed up blood from my throat. Irene was unmoved, still drinking casually on the sofa. “Husband, you were the one who attacked him first. I had warned you, but you didn't listen." After that day, Irene never came back and stayed with George for several weeks to make him happy. I became like a walking skeleton, living worse than death. When I saw the trending news about her lighting sky lanterns for George and buying out the entire auction house, I slit my wrists. As life drained from me bit by bit, the sounds around me faded slowly and a bone-deep cold gradually seeped into me. All I felt was relief and I slowly closed my eyes. But I didn't die. When I opened them again, Irene stood by my bedside with bloodshot eyes. She held me tightly in her arms and swore to me, "Husband, you scared me to death. I won't get pregnant again. I promise." But ... once a person broke a promise for the first time, they would break it countless times throughout their life. The second time she got pregnant, as someone who had never smoked before, Irene sat on the balcony and smoked through the entire night. That night, I knew she was wavering. She wanted this child, but her vow to me chained her. George came looking for me. Before I could say a word, he collapsed on his own and claimed I had hit him. This made Irene furious and she lost her baby and it was also the first time I had ever seen her lose control and in rage. She grabbed me by the throat, demanding I pay with my life. “I already promised you! I said I would abort the baby—why did you still hit him?” That was the second time I brushed past death. My lungs felt like they were about to explode and the air slowly stripped away from them. Just when I thought I was going to die, I was tossed aside like garbage. Seeing the undisguised disgust in her eyes, all the explanations I wanted to say got stuck in my throat and choked me, made me sick and filled me with agony. After that, Irene moved out of the home we once decorated together. Later, every time I needed to reach her, I had to get George’s permission before she’d even answer my calls. Two months later, I was diagnosed with a tumor in my head. The doctor said conservative treatment was needed for now and they still didn’t know if it was malignant or benign. So, I messaged Irene, but it was George who answered it. Then he came to my house to confront me. “You think faking illness will make Irene come back?” “Don't be naive. You know what Irene said to me in bed last night? She said seeing your face makes her want to vomit. If you hadn't saved her back then, she would've dumped you ages ago.” Before leaving, he poured hand sanitizer on the bathroom floor when I wasn't looking. When I went to the bathroom, I slipped, smashed my head against the ground and blood flooded my vision. I called Irene, but the line was busy the entire time.

On the tenth call, she only replied with four words. “George won't let me.” Since the ambulance took forever to arrive, the blood had already turned cold. The doctor said if they'd been any later, I wouldn't have made it. Lying in the hospital bed, I stared numbly at the ceiling, unable to comprehend how Irene and I had ended up like this. I think that's it. Fine. Forget it. Let it be. From that day on, it felt like I had stopped loving Irene. Even now, when I saw their backs together, there was not a single ripple in my heart. The ringtone reserved for that person interrupted my thoughts and I answered. “Yeah, the divorce papers are drafted. I'll give them to her tomorrow.” “Come and pick me up the day after tomorrow.” I cleared the old things in the house and all the unimportant things were packed and thrown to a trash can. That evening, Irene unexpectedly came back. Turned out, in the end, the divorce agreement I had prepared went unused because she was the one who handed it first. "Miles, George feels insecure. He says he doesn't want the child to be born as a bastard.” "So, let's get divorced first, then after I register the child at the City Hall, we can remarry." No wonder George texted me an hour ago and told me to wait for a surprise. He was trying to provoke me into having another argument with Irene. Unfortunately, I no longer loved her. Even arguing with her felt like a waste of energy. I calmly scanned the terms of the agreement. It was very generous and fair; almost all of Irene's property is divided in half between us. And without a moment of hesitation, I signed my name. After that, I drank the warm water on the table and prepared to get up and return to my room. Obviously, Irene did not expect such decisiveness from me because with a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes, she stood up and instinctively grabbed my wrist. “What’s wrong with you?” I turned back, my gaze distant and cold at her. “What's wrong? Is there something else?” She glanced uneasily toward my bedroom. After a moment's hesitation, she walked inside and gathered every sharp object in my room, then prepared to call the housekeeper from the old estate. So, she is afraid I’ll try to kill myself. I laughed. “There’s no need to trouble yourself. I won’t kill myself.” Her phone rang and it was George who urged her to go home. She gave me a perfunctory nod and hurried out the door. Early the next morning, Irene pushed me to go downstairs and get our divorce papers from City Hall. The car was plastered with stickers that she used to think were childish. It was according to George's taste. I sensibly moved to the back seat. Irene was stunned for a moment, then, with pouted mouth, she instinctively asked, "Why aren't you sitting up front?" I answered absentmindedly while gazing at the receding scenery outside the window. "Isn't the front seat plastered with a sign ‘George's reserved seat’?" Irene fell silent. Several times, when she glanced at me through the rearview mirror, she opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. After registering our information, the clerk told us that we could collect our marriage certificate after the cooling-off period. I let out a breath of relief. Irene stood rooted to the spot with a complex expression. Her eyes filled with emotions I couldn't decipher. “I'll take you home.” When I was about to refuse, George appeared out of nowhere, swept Irene into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. She scolded playfully, "Be careful with the baby!" The moment George appeared, all her attention shifted to him. She didn't even notice when I left. That night, all my luggage was already packed. After confirming tomorrow’s flight with the woman, I was just about to sleep when the doorbell rang.

It was George again. Tonight, Irene had a social event, so he came to my place for my attention. Not wanting to get dragged into trouble, I pretended not to hear anything and went back to sleep. At two in the morning, a bucket of cold water woke me up. I opened my eyes to find Irene standing at my bedside, her gaze so murderous it could kill. She ordered the bodyguards to yank me out of bed violently. My wrist twisted into a strange angle and the pain brought tears to my eyes. “Irene, what are you doing?” She clamped her hand down hard on my jaw, her eyes blazing with fury. “Miles Jobb, you still have the nerve to ask?” “Didn't I warn you that if there were any more problems with George, I won't let you go!"” An ominous feeling rose in my heart. “What's wrong with him?” Irene sneered. “What? Are you pretending to be stupid? He fell at your place, who else would be if not you, who push him?” My face drained of color as George’s earlier taunts flashed through my mind. “So what if my method of framing you is low-level? As long as Irene loves me, she’ll believe me and take my side.” "It didn't matter how many tricks you use, but how effective they are." A bitter smile tugged at my lips as I asked, “If I say I didn’t push him, would you believe me?” Though she didn't say anything, her action said it all. She ordered someone to bring a rattan cane, had me stripped naked, tied up and then whipped my abdomen again and again. To appease George, she pulled out her phone and initiated a video call with him right in front of me, then pointed the camera at me. George's voice came through the phone. “Irene, you must stand up for me. You don’t know how that useless piece of trash kept cursing me, saying I was a homewrecker, shameless and in the end, he tried to push me. Luckily, I dodged, or I’d have rolled down the stairs and died!” Irene coaxed him gently, but her strikes got even harder. A searing pain spread from my abdomen. My stomach was a bloody mess. I clenched my palms tightly, swallowing the scream of agony in my throat. My face went deathly pale as tears of humiliation and pain streamed down my cheeks. Irene frowned. A twitch appeared between her brows and a hint of reluctance flashed quickly in her eyes before she looked away. “I still need to stay with George. I’ll leave the rest to you.” I endured the bodyguards' mocking stares in numb silence. Some even took advantage of the chaos and started groping me. “Are you crazy? This is President Crawford's husband!” The man leisurely ran his hand over my body again. “Is this even a man? Ever seen a dude paler than a woman? I've never played with a guy before!” “Besides, President Crawford's husband is that other one now. She said to leave him to us, isn’t that basically her permitting us to do whatever we want?” “Even if something happens to this loser, she won’t blame us. You all know how much she spoils the other one.” Those words silenced the others and their hands grew even bolder. I screamed in agony, my eyes almost bloodshot. "Let me go!" At that critical moment, a loud “thud” echoed as several bodyguards standing ahead collapsed before me. My eyes widened. The newcomer gently cradled me in her arms. “I'm sorry I'm late.” *** After soothing George to sleep, Irene felt utterly exhausted. The doctor had said George wasn't seriously hurt, with no physical injuries. But for the child's sake, she had no choice but to go along with his wishes. She was getting older and she wanted to have an heir for herself. After giving birth this time, she would get rid of him. After playing around for so many years, it was time to finally settle down. The moment she stepped out of the ward, she bumped into the renowned neurosurgeon. "President Crawford." “I didn't get to speak with you last time, but I really wanted to tell you—you must be extra careful about that tumor in your husband's brain. Right now, we can only manage it... He nearly died from that massive hemorrhage last time. As his wife, shouldn't you be paying more attention?” Irene was taken aback. “What tumor?” The neurosurgeon murmured in confusion, “Did Miles not tell you? I specifically warned him to be careful. Who knew he’d hit his head… If he’d arrived any later, it could have been fatal…” Irene staggered, her face turned white, as if she had just emerged from an ice cellar. “How could that be?”