Caught My Husband Dating His First Love
On the eve of our anniversary, Quincy entered a hotel hand-in-hand with his first love.
I dialed his number, but it was our thirteen-year-old son, Mason, who answered.
“Dad is in a parent-teacher meeting. Outsiders are not allowed to disturb him!” Mason said coldly and then promptly blocked me.
That night, father and son punished me for “disrupting the family harmony.” They locked me out on the windy open balcony, forcing me to stand there the entire night.
This time, I really learned my lesson.
Feverish and weak, I handed over the divorce agreement and took the initiative to file for divorce from Quincy!
Chapter 1
In the study,upon hearing the word“divorce,”Quincy didn’t even raise his head and kept working.
I waited for an hour.
Just as I was about to faint,he finally spoke,“Shannon,you’re going to divorce me just because I made you stand in the cold for a while?You were in the wrong first,weren’t you?”
I opened my mouth but held back the urge to argue for the first time.I simply said,“Just sign it.”
Quincy responded indifferently,“I’ll take custody of Mason;you don’t mind,right?”
Seeing me nod,he raised an eyebrow in surprise.Still,to appear“fair,”he called Mason into the study and asked:
“After your mom and I divorce,who would you like to live with?”
Mason,undoubtedly Quincy’s son,not only resembled Quincy in appearance but also matched his cold,condescending gaze as he looked at me.
“I’m a Smith,not a White,”Mason replied.
In the past,hearing this would’ve left me sleepless,silently crying until dawn.But after last night,my love as a mother for Mason had long faded.
Without even glancing at him,I turned and walked into my bedroom.
After thirteen years of marriage,I had devoted myself to taking care of Quincy and Mason,leaving me with few personal belongings.In less than ten minutes,I was packed.
Dragging my suitcase,I walked out of the room.Quincy was sitting on the sofa watching the stock market.Without looking back,he said:
“Where are you going?I’ll have the driver take you.”
“No need.”
Fighting off the dizziness from my fever,I walked toward the door.Just then,a golf ball from the second floor hit me hard on the back of my head.
The game room on the second floor belonged to Mason,who often practiced indoor golf after finishing his homework.
Seeing me clutch my head and curl up on the floor,father and son exchanged a look as if to say,“She’s putting on an act again,”letting me lie there for half an hour.
Finally,I crawled out of the Smith Family’s door,drenched in cold sweat and went to the hospital alone for an IV drip.
After recovering from the fever,I groggily boarded a bus heading out of town.Two hours later,I arrived at Grandma’s house.
Seeing me,Grandma was overjoyed and asked nothing,focusing only on lighting the stove and cooking me a big pot of taro rice.
When Mason was little,he loved taro rice too.He’d overeat and then ask me to carry him.
Around the age of six or seven,someone in the Smith Family told him that taro was“peasant food,”and since then,he no longer allowed me to bring Grandma’s home-grown taro back.
“Ugh,ugh.”
Seeing me eat too quickly and hiccup,Grandma’s wrinkled face filled with a smile.
“Oh,silly Shanny.”
With trembling,wrinkled hands,she braided my messy hair into my favorite childhood pigtails.
That night,after years of insomnia,I slept soundly.I knew I had finally come home.
Two days later,I received a call from Quincy.
In a cold voice,he asked,“Where did you hang the silk shirt I bought overseas last year?”
Without thinking,I told him its exact location and suggested pairing it with the tie on the far left of the storage compartment.
I heard the sounds of him dressing from his end.
Chapter 2
When he spoke again,there was a reluctant hint of approval.
“Not a bad match.I’ll wear it to tonight’s dinner.”
After a pause,he added,“Send me your address;I’ll have the anniversary jewelry delivered to you.”
I refused,saying,“No need,my taste is different from Michelle’s.”
Michelle was his first love.Since returning from abroad,she’d become his personal secretary,managing everything from his schedule to gift-giving.
At the mention of Michelle,his tone turned icy.“Who do you think you are,daring to compare yourself to her?”
I laughed softly,“You’re right.I’m not worthy,which is why I don’t want you wasting good things on me.”
Quincy was momentarily speechless.
Looking at the clock on the wall,I continued,“Please have Michelle arrange a date to go to the civil affairs bureau.Just text me the date,no need to call.”
As I was about to hang up,he changed the topic.“Our son is here.He wants to say a few words to you.”
Before Mason could speak,I ended the call,just as swiftly as he’d blocked me that day.
Putting down the phone,I held my grandmother’s hand and joined her in watching an old opera.
A week flew by.While waiting for a friend at a hotel salon,I received a call from an unfamiliar number.It was Mason’s school principal.
He said that Mason had gotten into a fight.The conflict started when a classmate asked about his parents’divorce,believing rumors.
I replied,“It’s no rumor;his father and I are indeed divorced.I don’t have custody,so please contact his father.”
After hearing this,the principal awkwardly explained that Mason had only provided my contact number.
So,I asked him to put the phone on speaker.
In front of the injured student and their parents,I said to Mason,“You were wrong for hitting someone.Admit your mistake—wasn’t this always you and your father’s principle?
Also,from now on,don’t call me for anything.Understand that we no longer have any relationship.”
Then I hung up,set my phone to Do Not Disturb and waved at my best friend Helen and her daughter.
When I was pregnant with Mason,I dreamed of having a daughter.Even though that didn’t happen,I still treated Mason like a treasure,raising him wholeheartedly.
Before he turned six,Mason would plant trees in the garden for the cartoon cats who“passed away”and even save little red flowers from preschool to surprise me.
Later,as Quincy took Mason to visit the family estate more often,my son stopped crying or smiling by the age of eight.
He even started looking down on Grandma’s old red-brick home,saying to me,“Did you grow up in a place like this?No wonder Grandma never respects you.”
Just then,Helen’s daughter fed me a piece of cheesecake,snapping me out of my thoughts.
Seeing me eat,Helen said,“Now you owe your goddaughter a favor.You’ll have to watch her compete now.”
Chapter 3
Putting my arm around Cassie’s shoulders,I smiled,“Don’t worry,godmother will definitely be there.”
A month later,on a Friday,I unexpectedly ran into Quincy on the school field.Beside him was Michelle,clinging to his arm.She greeted me warmly,“Shannon,long time no see.Mason didn’t mention you’d be here.”
Mason,captain of the school’s sprint club,was sure to compete today.But I wasn’t there for him.
Ignoring Michelle,I headed straight for the stands.Noticing this,Quincy let go of Michelle and followed me quickly,mocking me,“Shannon,didn’t you say you wanted to cut ties with Mason?So why come here and make a fool of yourself?”
I didn’t want to waste words on him and simply replied,“Please don’t stand with me.I don’t want people to misunderstand.”
“Misunderstand what?”
“Misunderstand that we’re still a couple.”
He was taken aback and then his face turned dark.“Shannon,I advise you to know when to stop.”
I didn’t understand what he meant.At that moment,I was just focused on waving excitedly at Cassie,who stood on the track about five meters away from Mason.I knew he’d seen me.Mistaking my wave for him,he wore an expression of disgust.
The starting gun fired and both boys and girls began to race.Cassie ran unexpectedly fast,but halfway through,Mason,usually a top competitor,stumbled and fell.
As soon as the race ended,Quincy and I rushed toward the track.He beat me by a few steps,immediately reaching Mason and asking the school nurse about his injuries.Before the nurse could answer,Quincy motioned for her to wait,looking over at me,standing a few feet away,checking my phone.
“Shannon,what are you doing standing there dawdling?Don’t you see your son is hurt?”
Quincy’s scolding drew the attention of students and teachers around us.I put down my phone and looked indifferently at Mason,whose lips were pale.
His knees were scraped and bloody,his left ankle twisted at an odd angle.He reached out to me instinctively,his eyes seeking comfort,but I found it laughable.What did this have to do with me?
Last year,he’d written in his essay that he’d grown up and no longer needed a“useless stay-at-home mom who can’t even play a single piano piece.”
Ignoring him entirely,I walked over to Cassie and hugged her with a bright smile.“Cassie,you were amazing!Congratulations on winning silver!Come on,sweetheart,your mom’s car is at the gate and she’s taking us to eat seafood.”
Feeling light and cheerful,I walked out of the school.I had just gotten into the car when Quincy called.I didn’t plan to answer until he texted,[Let’s discuss the divorce.]
So,after arriving at the restaurant,I told Helen to go in with her daughter,promising I’d join them soon.
For the first time in two months,I called Quincy.The phone barely rang before his frustrated voice came through.
“Shannon,where are you?”
“It doesn’t matter where I am.Just tell me when you’re available to go to the civil affairs bureau.”
There was a pause before he spoke again,his tone significantly softened.“Come to the hospital first.Mason’s injuries are serious and he might not be able to compete again.The doctor has things to discuss with us.”
“Oh,if he can’t compete,he can’t compete.You didn’t need to tell me that.”
Incredulous,he said,“Shannon,how can you say that?Aren’t you still Mason’s mother?”
Leaning back into the seat cushion,I replied calmly,“Quincy,you were the one who called him into the study and had him tell me that after the divorce,he didn’t want to live with an outsider.Why are you now acting like I abandoned him?Don’t you find it absurd?”
The line fell silent for a long time,so long that I thought he was deliberately leaving me hanging.Then he spoke again.
