Bittersweet

"Let's just go back to the old times. We'll be in love and grow old together. -- Jacob Gu."

Nicole Du read the message on her phone.

After a few minutes, she bit on her lip and tried to call Austin Liang.

"The subscriber you dialed cannot be reached. Please call again later."

Nicole Du hung up the phone and looked out of the window.

Somehow, Nicole Du felt a little uneasy.

A month ago, her husband's sister gave birth to a baby and asked her to take care of her in the countryside. During the past couple of weeks, Nicole Du had barely gotten a chance to get in contact with her husband.

At first, he barely texted her back. But now he was no longer answering his phone altogether.

'I don't think he's that busy at work to ignore my calls...' she suspected.

Shaking her head, Nicole Du tried to convince herself not to overthink.

It had only been a year since the two of them got married. Austin Liang loved her very much -- what could possibly go wrong?

However...

Nicole Du's heart was still at an unease, and no matter how much she tried to comfort herself, she couldn't help but think of the worse.

To get rid of her anxiety, she decided to pay Austin Liang a surprise visit. The taxi stopped at a gated community. After paying the driver, Nicole Du went up to their house with her suitcase in hand.

Now that she was here, she felt even more uneasy.

Nicole Du opened the door and was shocked by what she saw.

From the entryway to the living room, the clothes of a man and a woman were scattered all over the floor. The trail led to the master bedroom.

It seemed as if her intuition was right.

Looking around, Nicole Du saw a striped tie and a scarlet dress thrown haphazardly on the couch.

It was a tie she had given Austin Liang as a birthday gift last month.

As for the dress, she knew that it couldn't possibly be hers. With her heart trembling terribly in her chest, she walked over to the bedroom.

With staggering steps, Nicole Du walked over the scattered clothes on the ground. Slowly, she approached the bedroom.

The door was left wide open. It looked like whoever was inside was really eager to get into bed.

Before Nicole Du left for the countryside, Sabina Su said that she would keep an eye on Austin Liang, promising that she wouldn't let him get into an affair with another woman. Who would have thought that Sabina Su didn't mean that she would stop herself from sleeping with Nicole Du's husband.

Nicole Du stood at the doorway, frozen in shock. After an agonizing minute, Austin Liang felt that there was a pair of eyes watching him. He quickly turned around and looked at the doorway.

His eyes met with Nicole Du's.

"Ni... Nicole?!"

With his eyes wide with shock, Austin Liang sat up and tried to cover himself up carelessly.

"Austin... What... What are you doing?" Nicole Du asked, her voice breaking.

Before Austin Liang could reply, Sabina Su stifled a laugh. Then, she put her arms around Austin's shoulders and snuggled her face at the crook of his neck. "Do you really not understand what's happening here?" Sabina Su said with a smug smile. "Maybe we should continue with what we were doing so you can try and figure it out."

"Why..." Nicole's voice trailed off. A teardrop rolled down from the corner of her eye to her cheek.

Sabina Su giggled as she sat up, fully exposing her naked body.

"Honey, she's asking you a question," Sabina Su said as she ran her fingers through Austin's hair. "Shall I answer for you?"

"Stop it. That's enough," Austin muttered under his breath, lightly brushing Sabina Su aside.

As Nicole watched how intimate the two of them were, the shock and pain she initially felt were now overruled by anger.

"How dare you, Sabina! He's my husband! How can you be so shameful!"

"Watch your mouth," Sabina replied, raising an eyebrow at Nicole. "I'm not being shameful. Quite the opposite in fact. I have pleasured Austin in a way that you never have. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself before you point fingers. Do you think you've been a competent wife? Do you really think you are in a position to blame me or your dear husband?"

It was true that Nicole hadn't been around lately.

But wasn't it for a good reason? Austin's mother was ill and needed to be taken care of. His niece had undergone surgery and needed to be accompanied. His elder sister had recently given birth and needed to be taken care of. For all those times, Nicole was there for everyone without uttering a single complaint. And for what? To just end up like this?

"Honey, you agree, don't you?" Sabina continued as she glared at Nicole.

"I'm sorry, Nicole... It's just that things have gotten bland with us lately. Sabina was there for me while you were not," Austin said sheepishly.

His words were like a sharp knife stabbing into her heart.

Six months ago, Nicole introduced Sabina to him. When they got back home, Austin told Nicole not to get influenced by Sabina, and that he thought girls dressed in such a coquettish way were not good.

At that time, Nicole felt pity for Sabina. How could he judge someone he just met only through their appearances? Even though Sabina was used to wear revealing clothes, Nicole believed that Sabina was really a nice person and a good friend. Now, it seemed that she took Sabina's personality for granted.

"Since it looks like there's no use to try and fix it at this point... Let's get a divorce."

Nicole's hands balled up into fists, her nails digging into her palms, as she tried to endure the pain in her heart.

"Nicole..."

"Good! Austin can't afford to raise you and your whole family anyway. You're noting but a trouble!"

Sabina scoffed, interrupting Austin.

Nicole was stunned to hear this. She turned to look at Austin to see how he had reacted.

Austin didn't say anything, but his face was painted with guilt.

It looked as if Austin was in agreement with what Sabina had just said.

"The law offices are still closed for the weekend unfortunately. We'll get a divorce by Monday morning. I won't be a burden to you anymore." After saying this, Nicole left without looking back at that bedroom.

Dragging her suitcase downstairs, Nicole burst into silent tears.

She had told him clearly that the condition of her own family was not good enough and that her mother had been ill and her younger brother was still in school. At that time, she didn't want to get into a relationship since she already had so much on her plate.

But what had Austin said to her then? He loved her so much that he hoped to share the burden with her. He even swore to himself that he would make Nicole the happiest woman in the world.

Nicole had always been touched by Austin's attitude towards her, so no matter what his family members asked her to do, she would do it in a heartbeat without any qualms.

Even when she was treated like a servant by the Liang family, she didn't complain at all.

She would try her best to return the favor Austin had given her.

Yet, she and her family had been looked down upon by Austin's.

As it had turned out, this marriage looked like it was destined to be doomed.