7
To help persuade him, my mother even called me back home.
“It’s not a big deal, Mark. Why are you so angry? The jobs you’ve been looking at aren’t great anyway. You should take the civil service exam. It’s stable, a real iron rice bowl. No one can take that away from you.”
As I said this, I deliberately glanced at Lilian.
“Easier said than done,” Mark grumbled.
I shrugged. ‘Just a suggestion. Take it or leave it.”
But Mark had burned all his bridges. Finding a good job was going to be nearly impossible. The exam was actually a decent idea.
I pulled him aside, lowering my voice. “The registration is in a few months. Rent a small apartment, focus on studying. Stop talking about divorce all the time. You both just need to cool off.*
Mark didn’t want to see Lilian right now, so moving out seemed like a good solution.
“No way!” Lilian objected. “Why can’t he study at home? Is it so you have a place to meet your little slut?‘
But one “Then let’s get a divorce from Mark, and she had no choice but to agree.
‘Don’t worry,” I promised her, patting my chest. ‘I’ll keep an eye on him for you. I’ll make sure he doesn’t mess around. If you don’t trust him, you can trust me, right?”
With my mother and me mediating, they came to an agreement. Mark would move out to study. Lilian was not to disturb him during the week. They could only see each other on weekends. Lilian, terrified he’d cheat, made me promise to spy on him and send her photographic evidence.
Of course, I agreed. Now I could come and go from his place as I pleased.
Mark quickly rented an apartment and started studying. My mother would often cook nutritious meals for me to deliver to him. One day, she asked me to take him dinner after work. I told her I had to work late.
“Let Lilian take it,” I suggested. “Tomorrow’s Saturday anyway She must be missing him.”
After hanging up, I grabbed the exam prep books I’d bought and went to Mark’s apartment.
I usually wear sneakers, but today, I wore a pair of high heels.
‘These shoes are killing me,” I complained to Mark. “My feet are going to fall off.”
He never paid attention to what I wore and just grunted in response. He took the books without a word of thanks.
“You need a shower,‘ I told him. “You’re starting to smell.”
“Yeah, I’ll get to it‘
“You should hurry Lilian’s on her way with food.”
With that, I slipped on a pair of his slippers, left my high heels by the door, and breezed out
Not long after I left, Mark put down his book and went to take a shower. He had a habit of listening to music while he bathed, so he didn’t hear the front door open
Liliari let herself in with the spare key, carrying a container of food. The first thing she saw was a pair of black high heels.
Her blood ran cold. She had tried so hard to get rid of the ‘mistress, but she had slipped up. Looking at those heels, she could picture the kind of flashy, seductive woman who would wear them.
Good thing she’d come today. Otherwise, she’d have been completely clueless.
She put down the food and tiptoed into the bedroom. It was empty. From the bathroom, she heard the sound of water running. And not just water–she heard a woman’s voice.
So, the two of them are in there together, huh? Having a nice little romantic shower? Who could tolerate that?
She dropped the food container, stormed into the kitchen, filled a kettle with water and put it on to boil. Then, filled with righteous fury, she charged towards the bathroom.
The room was filled with steam. She couldn’t see who was inside.
Mark was lost in his music, his eyes closed as he washed his hair. The next second, he felt the door behind him open.
Dhe, you cheating bastards!”
A kettle of boiling water cascaded over his body.
He let out a blood–curdling scream, staggering against the wall, unable to stand.
“AHHH
As the steam cleared, Lilian saw that he was the only one in the bathroom.
And at that moment, Mark looked like a boiled piglet, his skin bright red, the pain unbearable. He turned on the cold water, trying to cool himself down. But it was no use against a full kettle of boiling water.
“Call an ambulence! It burns! It burns so bad!”
Lilian was frozen in shock, standing there helplessly until Mark’s furious roars snapped her back to reality.
