Never Have I Ever Screwed up Like This

At a get-together with friends, my best friend suggested we play 'Never Have I Ever'. We would take turns naming things we had never done, folding down one finger for each one. The last person with fingers left up would win. When someone brought up lying to a romantic partner, everyone folded a finger in unspoken agreement. Everyone except my husband, Joseph Harris. He kept his fingers raised and looked straight at me. "The marriage certificate we got five years ago was fake. "You've been trying to get pregnant for three years without success because I had a vasectomy long ago. "Cheryl and I have been together for five years. We even have a child together. He’s three years old now." The room fell deathly silent. I stood frozen, staring at my hand. I had folded every single finger. I had lost the game, and I had lost in life too. Only when someone slid a glass of liquor in front of me and said solemnly, "Lilian, a bet is a bet," did I finally snap out of it. "This is your punishment. When Mr. Harris and Cheryl get married, you aren't allowed to cause a scene." Chapter 1 Trembling all over, I grabbed the glass of liquor in front of me and threw it in my husband Joseph Harris' face. He did not even flinch. He simply said in a calm voice, "You can hit me if it makes you feel better. "I wanted to keep this from you forever, but Cheryl wants a wedding. "I figured I should tell you myself rather than have you find out from someone else." My heart twisted painfully in my chest. Was I supposed to thank him? Thank him for deigning to inform me personally that I was out of the picture after five years of lies? My best friend, Noelle Douglas, stepped forward, looking as though she had my best interests at heart. "Lilian, now that you know the truth, at least have some dignity. "Stop clinging to Joseph. "I really don't want my best friend to be the other woman. It’s embarrassing." I jerked my head up and stared at her, my voice trembling with anger. "Who are you calling the other woman?" Noelle folded her arms. There was even a hint of pity in her eyes. "Who else? You, of course. "Your marriage certificate is fake. Cheryl's is the real one. "We were all there five years ago when they got married." My entire body went rigid. Five years ago, I had been hospitalized after a car accident. My leg was broken, and the pain kept me awake night after night. Before Noelle visited me at the hospital, she posted something on social media. [Witnessing two people in love finally get their happy ending.] I even joked with her, asking which couple had finally gotten together. She gave me a couple of vague answers, then quickly changed the subject. That same afternoon, Joseph had arrived at my hospital room with a bouquet of roses. His eyes were red as he got down on one knee and proposed to me. He had even arranged for someone from the County Clerk's Office to come to my room so we could make our marriage official. I had been so overwhelmed with happiness that I could barely contain myself. Now I understood. He had not been making my dreams come true that day. He had just married another woman and handed me a counterfeit marriage certificate as an afterthought. Everyone in the private room looked at me like I was a joke. Maybe all those years, while I happily believed myself to be Mrs. Harris, they had laughed behind my back countless times. I stared at Joseph, my throat so raw I could barely speak. "Why? "Why did you have to do this to me?" Five years ago, I had accompanied him on a business trip to a neighboring city. On our way home that night, a sudden downpour hit the highway. The car skidded and slammed into the guardrail. Without a second thought, I threw myself over him to protect him. He walked away without a scratch, while I ended up with a broken leg. Even now, I still had a barely noticeable limp. The scar ached whenever it rained. As Joseph looked at me, emotions I could not understand swirling in his eyes, he finally said, "I was rushing back that day because I needed to marry Cheryl. "You got hurt because of me. I will take care of you for the rest of your life." It felt as though something had lodged itself deep in my chest, crushing me until even breathing hurt. "What about the baby? "You know how badly I wanted a child!" In my desperation to get pregnant, I had practically visited every hospital in the city. One fertility injection after another had affected my stomach. The pain was so unbearable that I would curl up on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night, vomiting until there was almost nothing left but bile. The medication the doctors prescribed was so bitter I could barely swallow it. Every time I took it, I ended up throwing it back up. All the while, Joseph knew perfectly well that he had undergone a vasectomy years ago, yet he had never said a word. He had simply watched me suffer, over and over again, not lifting a finger to stop me. Joseph remained silent, but Noelle delivered the final blow on his behalf. "Lilian, stop humiliating yourself. "Why would Joseph ever let you have his child? "You’re the woman he has to keep hidden. Even if you had a baby, that child would still be illegitimate." Her words struck my heart one after another, each one like a nail being hammered into my chest. Only then did Cheryl slowly rise to her feet. Her eyes turned red, and her voice grew so gentle it was almost sickening. "Lilian, I know how hard it is for you to let go of Joseph. "Honestly, I don't mind. "Joseph and I are legally married, but I don't mind if you stay by his side as his mistress. "My child can even call you Mommy someday." My stomach lurched. I nearly threw up right there. I shoved her away, my voice trembling with icy fury. "Keep your offer. Even the thought of it makes me sick." Chapter 2 One of the men nearby immediately burst out laughing. "Lilian, who are you trying to fool with that holier-than-thou act? "Can you even live without Joseph? "Your sister's medical bills run into the tens of thousands every month. Who do you think pays them? Joseph does! "Let's call it what it is. You’re living off him." My fingernails dug painfully into my palms. It was true that my sister's medical bills were paid out of Joseph's account. However, for the past five years, I had negotiated business deals for him, secured valuable connections, and drunk with clients until I developed stomach bleeding. I had personally fought for nearly every major contract that kept his company afloat. I had helped him establish himself, yet in their eyes, I was nothing more than a useless parasite sucking him dry. I swayed, barely keeping my balance. A flicker of sympathy crossed Joseph's eyes, and he reached out to steady me. I jerked away from him, lifted my head, and spoke each word with deliberate clarity. "Joseph. "We’re over." ... I ignored the laughter and whispers behind me and headed home to pack my things. However, when I pressed my finger against the front door’s fingerprint scanner, as I had countless times before, an icy, mechanical voice sounded. "Verification failed." I froze for a moment, then tried again. "Verification failed." On the third attempt, the system locked me out completely. That was when I finally understood. My fingerprint had been deleted. Just then, the door opened from the inside. Joseph stood in the doorway, with Cheryl behind him in a silk nightgown. Leaning against the entryway, she smiled like a woman who truly belonged there. "Joseph, see? I told you. "Lilian cannot live without you. I knew she'd come crawling back." I stared at Joseph, my throat tightening. "You deleted my fingerprint?" His expression was so calm that it was almost cruel. "Cheryl likes this house. "I'm going to have the place redecorated and turn it into our marital home. "Move out for now. I will arrange somewhere else for you to stay." Marital home? I could hardly believe what I was hearing. "This is the house you and I bought together. "I drew up every single design for the renovations. We took on the mortgage together. And now you’re telling me you want to turn it into a marital home for someone else?" Cheryl let out a soft laugh and cut in casually. "Lilian, you and Joseph were never married in the first place. How could this possibly be your marital home? "Besides, a lot of things in this house were designed according to my taste anyway." She lifted a hand to adjust her hair, then drove another knife straight into my heart. "Even the nursery. "Joseph started personally overseeing the renovations three years ago. "He said he wanted to give my daughter the very best." The blood in my veins seemed to turn ice-cold, inch by inch. After we bought the house, Joseph really had put a great deal of thought into the renovations. Back then, I had felt sorry for how busy he was with work and told him not to exhaust himself over the interior design. He had simply pulled me into his arms and laughed. "Lilian, this is our home. "I want to decorate it myself." I was so touched that my eyes grew hot with tears. Now I understood. He had not been doing it for our home. He had been doing it for another woman and the child she was carrying. I had been a complete fool, trapped in an illusion of their making, living a beautiful dream for five whole years. Forcing myself to stay on my feet, I walked into the bedroom and began packing my belongings. However, the moment I opened the wardrobe, I froze. Almost everything hanging inside belonged to Cheryl. My clothes had been carelessly shoved onto the bottom shelf, crumpled together in a heap like unwanted rags. Then, I opened the bedside drawer, and my vision suddenly went black. The jade pendant my mother had left me before she died was gone. I rushed out of the bedroom, and the first thing I saw was that very pendant hanging around Cheryl's neck. "Take it off." Cheryl touched the pendant, then turned to Joseph with an innocent look. "Joseph, what’s wrong with Lilian?" I glared at her, my voice already hoarse. "I said, take it off." Joseph frowned. "It’s just a jade pendant. "Cheryl likes it. Let her have it. "I’ll buy you something even better later." My eyes instantly filled with tears. Even my fingertips were trembling. "That was my mother's keepsake. "What could you possibly buy to make up for that?" Only then did Cheryl seem to realize the significance of what she had taken. She hurriedly reached up to remove it. "I'm sorry, Lilian. I honestly had no idea it meant so much to you. "I’ll give it back right now." Her apology sounded sincere enough, but her hand suddenly slipped. Smash! The jade pendant hit the floor and shattered into two pieces. My mind went blank. I lunged forward and picked up the broken pieces. A sharp edge sliced into my finger, and blood immediately welled up. However, I felt no pain. Clutching the shattered jade in my palm, I instinctively moved toward Cheryl. Joseph immediately stepped in front of me and pressed a tissue against my bleeding hand. "Cheryl didn't do it on purpose. "I bought another house, and the deed is already in your name. "I’ll take you there. You’re too emotional right now, and I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone." I pulled my hand away and looked at him calmly. "Joseph, does pretending to be devoted to me make you feel good about yourself? Aren't you disgusted by your own hypocrisy?" Joseph froze for a moment, then softened his voice. "I accidentally slept with Cheryl back then. I owed her for that. "However, you've always been the one I love. "I got the vasectomy for your sake. Your body was damaged in the car accident, and getting pregnant would've been risky for you." Wave after wave of nausea washed over me. I stared at him as if he were the biggest joke in the world. Chapter 3 "You got a vasectomy for my sake? "Then where did the baby in Cheryl's belly come from? Did it just fall out of the sky?" I shot back. For the first time, Joseph's eyes flickered with unease. "She lost a baby back then. I owed her another one." I laughed until tears streamed down my face. "So, you decided to repay that debt with the rest of my life? "Joseph, I wish I'd never fallen in love with you." I stopped wasting my breath on him and walked straight into the elevator. A few seconds later, my phone buzzed with a notification. Joseph had transferred $20,000 to my account. The transaction note said, ‘Compensation’. Another message followed immediately. [Lilian, calm down.] [Once Cheryl and I have our wedding, things can go back to the way they were between us.] I stared at the words as my hands and feet grew colder by the second. So, after lying to me for five years and destroying five years of my life, he still expected me to stay by his side, hidden from the world as his mistress. ... After leaving the house, I had nowhere else to go, so I headed straight to the hospital to see my sister. However, the moment I pushed open her hospital room door, I met Yvonne Stewart's red-rimmed eyes. Clutching her blanket, she looked at me timidly. "Sis, is Joseph going to marry someone else? "Everyone says you’re the other woman." My heart clenched so hard that I forgot to breathe for a moment. I quickly pulled out my phone. Sure enough, Cheryl had posted something on social media. The photo showed two marriage certificates, their official seals practically screaming the truth I never wanted to believe. Her caption was just two sentences. [Finally, I can show the world. Keeping this secret all those years was exhausting.] The very first comment came from Noelle. [Finally, the day we've all been waiting for! Some people really need to have some shame and stop chasing someone else's husband.] My fingers slowly curled into fists. Before long, my inbox was flooded with messages. [Lilian, have you not been going around calling yourself Mrs. Harris all this time?] [So, it turns out you were the one who broke up someone else's marriage?] [How can you be so shameless?] I stared at the stream of insults, my fingers trembling as I posted my own update. [I'm the victim here. I'm not the other woman. The real homewrecker is someone else.] After I posted it, my social media feed fell eerily silent. I did not receive a single like or comment. Half an hour later, Yvonne's attending physician came to find me. He looked deeply troubled. "Ms. Stewart, funding for Yvonne's treatment next month has been cut off. "And the kidney she has been waiting for has suddenly been given to someone else. "Have you gotten on the wrong side of someone powerful?" My head buzzed. Yvonne could not afford to wait any longer. She had spent eight whole months waiting for that kidney. The moment the doctor left, I called Joseph. His voice on the other end was ice cold. "Your social media post upset Cheryl." My voice shook as I spoke. "Joseph, Yvonne's life depends on that kidney! "If you’re angry, take it out on me! Leave her out of this!" A brief silence followed on the other end. "Go apologize to Cheryl. "As long as she’s satisfied, I will make sure Yvonne gets the kidney back." It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. "What did you just say? "Joseph, you are using my sister's life to force me to bow to the woman who stole my marriage?" Before I could finish, he hung up. I sank to the floor, my entire body freezing. I had always believed that even if he had lied to me and betrayed me, five years of living together day after day had to mean something. Surely, somewhere beneath all those lies, a little genuine affection remained. I had been wrong. He was willing to use my sister's life as a bargaining chip just to make Cheryl feel better. I braced myself against the wall and struggled to my feet, stumbling toward the exit. Before getting into my car, I absentmindedly opened my social media feed. Noelle had just posted a new nine-photo carousel. [Oh my gosh, this is so sweet! I hereby declare these two the real deal!] The photos were packed with group shots of our entire circle of friends. Snowcapped mountains, Windermere Lake and endless stretches of grassland. Joseph and Cheryl were the stars of every single picture. The final photo showed them kissing beneath the enormous Ferris wheel in Austa City. The moment I saw it, a sharp pain stabbed through my heart. I had once told Joseph that I wanted to visit Austa City to see the Ferris wheel. Back then, he promised, "Once things at work settle down, I’ll take you there." It was not that he had no time. He had simply given all his time, all his romantic gestures, and all the things I had dreamed of to someone else. I, the fool that I was, had clung to an empty promise he had tossed out without a second thought, waiting for five whole years for it to come true. Chapter 4 By the time I arrived at the Harris family home, everyone inside was happily gathered around the table, enjoying dinner. The moment Noelle saw me, her expression darkened. She stormed over and shoved me. "Lilian, why are you here again? "You spread lies on social media, accusing Cheryl of being the other woman. Haven't you made her suffer enough?" I lost my balance and crashed to the floor. A sharp, agonizing pain shot through my wrist. Joseph stepped toward me. The next second, Cheryl wrapped her arms around him and spoke in a soft, trembling voice, her eyes turning red. "Lilian, please stop clinging to Joseph. "He’s my husband and the father of my child." I grabbed the edge of the table and struggled to my feet, ready to speak, but Joseph's mother, Hannah Hariss, had already walked over. She gave me a contemptuous once-over. "I know you saved Joseph's life all those years ago. "However, he has spent more than enough money on you over the past few years to repay that debt. "Don't think that just because you broke a leg, you can cling to him forever and force your way into the Harris family. "Considering your background, you aren't fit to set foot in our home." A wave of undisguised laughter erupted around me. Standing in the middle of the room, I felt as though I had been stripped naked and put on display for everyone to mock. However, I no longer had the energy to care about my humiliation. I turned to Joseph, my voice hoarse. "Just give Yvonne her kidney back, and I promise I will never show my face to you or Cheryl again for the rest of my life." More shameless laughter rang out around me. The humiliation was almost enough to swallow me whole. "Mom, that’s enough." Joseph frowned as he tried to stop her. My expression remained numb. "You can all relax. I won't entertain any more foolish fantasies. "I'm only begging Joseph to save my sister. "If you give Yvonne the kidney, I promise I will never bother him again for as long as I live." The moment I finished speaking, Joseph's expression darkened. Noelle, meanwhile, looked as though she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "So, after all that drama, you still can’t bear to let go of your cash cow, Joseph. "Lilian, calling you a parasite isn't even an exaggeration." My face went pale, and my nails dug deep into my palms. However, for Yvonne's sake, I had no choice but to swallow every last insult. "I can sign a promissory note. "I will pay back the treatment costs and the surgery fees. "Just give Yvonne the kidney first. She really can’t wait any longer." Someone nearby chimed in sarcastically. "What are you going to pay it back with?" "Now that you’re no longer with Joseph, you probably can’t even support yourself." Laughter erupted all around me. It felt as though someone had forced my head down and ground my face into the mud. Joseph merely looked at me, his expression cold and indifferent. "Lilian. "I made myself perfectly clear on the phone." My heart sank a little further with every passing second. Of course I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to admit in front of everyone that I was the other woman. He wanted me to take the last shred of dignity I had left, tear it to pieces with my own hands, and lay it at Cheryl's feet. The taste of blood filled my mouth. After a long struggle, I finally forced the words out. "I'm sorry. "I should never have posted that update. "I'm the one who has to stay hidden. I'm shameless. I'm the one who kept clinging to Joseph..." Every word felt like swallowing a razor blade. However, I had no choice. Yvonne was still lying in a hospital bed, waiting for someone to save her life. Someone nearby raised a phone and eagerly began recording my humiliation. "What good is an apology if it is only words?" "You took Cheryl's place for five whole years, and now you want her forgiveness? Then bow your head and admit your wrongdoing in front of everyone!" Chapter 5 My entire body went rigid. Just then, Cheryl suddenly stepped in front of me. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she could barely hide the smug smile tugging at her lips. "Please, everyone, stop. "Lilian just loves Joseph too much. I don't blame her." She bent down as if to help me up. However, when she spoke again, her voice was so quiet that only I could hear her. "Keep dreaming. Even if you get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness, I will never give your sister that kidney. "You and your sister should just die together." My whole body jolted. I stared at her in disbelief. The next second, she reached out to touch me. Almost instinctively, I swatted her hand away. She let out a startled cry and stumbled backward, crashing headfirst into the corner of the table. Blood poured from her forehead almost instantly. Chaos erupted. Joseph's expression changed dramatically. He rushed over and gathered Cheryl into his arms. When he looked up at me, only icy hatred remained in his eyes. "Lilian. "Is this what you call an apology?" My mind went completely blank. I shook my head without thinking. "No, I didn't do that. "She fell on her own!" However, nobody listened. Hannah immediately barked an order. "Get her out of my house!" Several of Joseph's friends charged forward and dragged me toward the door. They shoved me along so roughly that I stumbled repeatedly, nearly falling flat on my face as they hauled me outside. The door slammed shut right in front of me. I lunged forward and pounded on it desperately. "Joseph! "I swear I didn't push her! "Please give Yvonne the kidney! I'm begging you!" I screamed until my voice was hoarse, but not a single sound came from inside. Just then, my phone rang. My hands shook so badly that I could barely hold it as I answered. The doctor's frantic voice came through the line. "Ms. Stewart, Yvonne's condition has suddenly deteriorated. She’s been rushed into the emergency room. "Her kidney function is failing rapidly. We need to act immediately!" A loud buzzing filled my head. The phone slipped from my hand and hit the ground. It felt as though my entire world was collapsing before my eyes. At the same time, after the dinner gathering finished, Joseph helped Cheryl into her car. However, his mind remained fixed on the sight of me standing there with my head bowed, my face so pale it was almost translucent. He could still hear the desperate pleas that had poured from my mouth as I pounded on his door, each one sounding more broken than the last. An inexplicable sense of panic gripped him. In the end, he pulled out his phone and called the hospital. "Stop holding up Yvonne's kidney transplant. "Arrange the surgery as soon as possible." There was a brief silence on the other end before a nurse spoke hesitantly. "Mr. Harris, the patient suffered acute kidney failure half an hour ago and has already been transferred to another hospital for emergency treatment. "As for the kidney... "Even if we send it over now, it might already be too late." Joseph's hand froze around his phone.