Perilous Wall: Deadly Temptation

My husband was outrageously brazen in his infidelity, even threatening me during our divorce negotiations...

1

When I got home, I saw several pairs of shoes scattered messily at the entrance. Crushed cigarette butts littered the floor, and a smelly sock lay right in front of the door.

Nearby, a plastic bag filled with a jumble of vegetables and meat lay unattended, possibly torn, with bloody water seeping out...

My mother-in-law, Greta, was lounging on the sofa watching TV. Upon seeing me, she shouted, "Braelynn, hurry up and make dinner! You got off work at five, why are you dawdling until now?"

I pretended not to hear her.

Greta called out again, and when I didn't respond, she marched over and yelled, "Braelynn, are you deaf? I bought the groceries for you. Hurry up! Your father-in-law will finish his mahjong game soon.Do you want us to starve?"

Of course, by "my father," she meant my husband Jerold's father-my father-in-law.

"After dinner, I have to go to the community dance. You got off work at five, and it's almost six now. Where have you been, sneaking around with some man?" Greta yelled loudly again, and her words were particularly harsh.

I looked up at her, giving a meaningful smile before slowly saying, "I've already eaten. If you want to eat, cook for yourself!"

"You... have you lost your mind?" Greta's face turned beet red with anger, pointing a finger at my face, she scolded, "Is this how you behave as a daughter-in-law? How did your parents raise such a disobedient and ungrateful person?"

"I won't be your daughter-in-law for much longer," I said, taking a deep breath to suppress the overwhelming anger inside me, speaking calmly.

"What now? Another divorce tantrum?" Greta placed her hands on her hips, sneering, "Braelynn, go ahead and divorce! I've never seen someone as shameless as you. The first time you came to our house, you tried to trap my son, got pregnant, and then clung to him for dear life!"

"And you spread rumors outside, claiming my son raped you. Ugh!" Greta spat viciously in my face.

I recalled the past, my heart heavy with bitterness and unresolved anger-

On our wedding night, Jerold forced himself on me despite my being six months pregnant. He also said... we were legally married.

The result was a miscarriage; I lost the baby, and my heart was shattered. Yet, he spread rumors that I, ignoring my pregnancy, seduced him out of insatiable desire...

I wanted a divorce, but my parents and friends advised me against it, saying it was just a drunken mistake on the wedding night, and there would be more children in the future.

However, this incident became an unhealable scar between us. Naturally, Jerold never thought of making amends and grew even more domineering and arrogant afterward.

After marriage, he stopped working, idling away his days drinking and gambling. My father - in - law and mother - in - law treated me as a free nanny, while Jerold used me as an outlet for his emotions and an ATM.

Living with Jerold was unbearable, so I constantly plotted how to get a divorce.

I wanted to reclaim what was mine and seek justice...

Now, the opportunity had finally arrived.

I stood up, pushed Greta aside, opened my phone, and pulled up a photo, showing it to her with a cold voice, "Your son has found someone else. He'll be back soon to divorce me."

Greta seemed a bit stunned...

This afternoon, Jerold called me, full of swagger, telling me to pack my things and get out of the Wall Family's house.

He would bring the divorce papers and finalize our divorce.

He even threatened me over the phone, saying I'd better be sensible and sign the divorce papers quickly, or else he'd make my life miserable.

Ha!

2

The door slammed open, and my father-in-law, Karl, who spent his days playing mahjong, returned home.

The plastic bag at the door tripped him, scattering the vegetables all over the floor.

Perhaps because there was no hot meal waiting at home, or maybe he lost money at mahjong again, he was in a foul mood. Lighting a cigarette, he cursed, "Is everyone dead in this house? Why isn't dinner ready yet?"

I remained silent. Greta glanced at him, pulled him aside, and the two of them whispered together, occasionally glancing in my direction.

Around 6:30, Jerold returned, his hair meticulously styled, wearing a suit and tie, looking as if he was dressed for a somber occasion.

But that wasn't what caught my attention. What did was the familiar scent of sandalwood on him.

Jerold pulled a divorce agreement from his briefcase and slapped it onto the table in front of me. "Braelynn, haven't you always wanted a divorce? Sign the papers, and we can go to City Hall tomorrow to finalize it,"

he said, striking a pose he must have thought was suave, like something out of a TV drama.

I glanced at the divorce agreement and couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. He was the one who cheated and wanted a divorce, yet he expected me to walk away empty-handed?

"Jerold, I want this house!" I declared.

"Braelynn, wishful thinking!" Sure enough, as soon as I said that, Jerold sprang to his feet at once, pointing at me and yelling, "This house belongs to my family. Your name isn't on the property ownership certificate. What business is it of yours?"

I sneered, "Jerold, while your family did pay the five - hundred - thousand down payment, my family handled the renovations, bought the furniture, and I've been paying the mortgage for the past two years."

Without waiting for him to respond, I continued, "If you think my proposal is unreasonable, you can file for divorce. I have time to drag this out, as long as your new flame can handle it, I don't mind."

"You... you..." Jerold was so angry he was at a loss for words. "Braelynn, don't push me to the point where I might kill you."

He had said such things before, and I was used to it. I couldn't even muster the energy to be angry anymore.

I looked up at the ceiling and said slowly, "Divorce is a long battle. Civil lawsuits can be quite troublesome, and many people fail even after several attempts."

"Braelynn, take the furniture and renovations with you!" Jerold shouted, his face flushed with rage.

"I want this house!" I stood up and said, "Didn't you hear me clearly? Are you deaf? Or maybe you should discuss it with your parents? Or perhaps with your girlfriend?"

I emphasized the word "girlfriend" heavily.

3

Jerold went to his parents' room, closed the door, and began discussing in low, murmuring voices.

Initially, their voices were low, and I couldn't make out much. Jerold seemed to have made a couple of phone calls, likely to his "girlfriend." As their voices grew louder, it seemed they were arguing.

"No way, we can't give her this house," I heard Greta's voice.

"Jerold, this house is the result of your mother and my life's work," Karl, my father-in-law, said.

"Exactly, why should we just give it to her for nothing?"

"Let's gather some money from relatives and friends, offer her a tens of thousands as a breakup fee."

"Right, considering she played housekeeper for us for two years, hmph!"

"..."

"Wifey, as far as I'm concerned, this is all your fault. If you hadn't prepared the medicinal liquor to knock her out, would she have been able to latch onto our son?" I heard Karl say loudly.

In an instant, a loud "boom" went off in my head. Medicinal liquor? Knock out?

Could it be that my first time with Jerold was the result of Greta's drugging?

Jerold and I were college classmates. He pursued me for over a year before I agreed to date him, and then he found an excuse to bring me to his hometown.

At that time, Jerold's parents were very warm towards me, but I never imagined that under Greta's persuasion, I drank a small cup of wine and ended up completely unconscious.

Under those circumstances, Jerold forced himself on me. When I confronted him the next day, he shamelessly and brazenly claimed that I had been the one to seduce him while drunk.

My female friends tried to comfort me, saying, "In this day and age, it's no big deal to sleep with a guy after drinking too much." It doesn't matter.

But what I never expected was that I ended up pregnant.

We had a shotgun wedding, but on our wedding night, I lost the baby-a little girl who was already taking shape.

I wanted nothing more than to kick down the door and confront them, but I held back...

I clenched my teeth so hard that my whole body was taut with tension.

Inside, Greta's voice came again, "Old man, you blame me for this? Your son swore he had to sleep with her and forced me to come up with a plan..."

"Shh, keep your voices down," I heard Jerold say.