Could a human being even make a choice like that?

Arthur always found a way to hit a new rock bottom.

"Looks like your backup isn't coming," the harasser sneered, his voice dripping with triumph.

Clara pulled her keys from her pocket and drove them straight into his eye.

The man let out a blood-curdling scream and swung a heavy fist at her.

They scrambled and fought; Clara took several brutal blows to her body, but she seized a split-second opening to kick him hard between the legs. While he was writhing in pain on the ground, she snatched his phone and called the police.

When the officers arrived to take her statement, Clara couldn't help but ask one last, desperate question: "Was there another emergency reported nearby just now?"

The officer answered matter-of-factly, "No."

Ha. Arthur hadn't even bothered to call the police for her.

After finishing at the station, she went to the hospital to have her wounds treated.

The doctors marveled at her high pain tolerance after such a beating.

Clara only offered a faint, silent smile.

She had endured far more soul-crushing attacks than this; what was a little physical pain?

By the time everything was handled, it was three in the morning.

Clara dragged her exhausted body back home. The house was silent, devoid of any warmth.

She collapsed onto the sofa, drained of all thought and emotion.

Some time later, the sound of the front door opening cut through the silence.

Click.

The lights flooded the room, making Clara wince.

She shielded her eyes with her hand, catching sight of Arthur and Leo walking in through the gaps between her fingers.

"Hmph, I knew she was just playing the victim to harass my Dad!" Leo muttered rudely.

Clara didn't have the strength to lecture him. She closed her eyes, wanting nothing to do with this father and son duo. "If you need to take something, take it and go. I just want some peace and quiet," she said weakly.

Arthur looked at her. She was covered in bruises, her cheek was badly swollen, and several of her fingernails were broken. Yet she didn't utter a single complaint. She looked at him with nothing but sheer exhaustion, not even possessing the desire to vent.

He was supposed to be her harbor.

Seeing Leo grumbling, completely indifferent to his mother's injuries, Arthur felt a sudden chill in his heart. How had his own child become so cold-blooded?

When no movement followed for a long while, Clara opened her eyes and looked at him, thinking for a second. "Do you want me to apologize? For ruining your date?"

"Fine. I apologize."

She was beyond weary and only wanted to deal with him as quickly as possible.

Arthur simply told Leo, "Go to your room and sleep."

Then he opened the front door and walked out.

Clara didn't know where he was going, nor did she care.

Half an hour later, the door opened again.

Arthur walked in carrying a bag filled with various medications.

He knelt beside Clara and took out some iodine and cotton swabs.

The rustling sound made Clara open her eyes again.

"What are you doing? I’ve already treated my wounds. What’s the point of this fake kindness now?"

Arthur’s brow furrowed in immediate displeasure. "I try to help you and you insult me? Clara, you must be a masochist. Do you only feel comfortable when people treat you like garbage?"

Clara let out a cold laugh. "So you admit you treat me like garbage?"

The man fell silent.

The mood for playing the attentive husband vanished.

He tossed the swabs and iodine onto the table and stood up, looking down at her. "I told you a long time ago not to go to places like that. You didn't listen, and now you've brought this on yourself. You deserved it."

Deserved it? Arthur truly was something else. He always managed to find the one unscarred inch on her broken body and stab it deep.

She didn't even have the urge to argue anymore. She just stared at him and asked, "And where exactly did you and Mia reunite?"

If she hadn't misheard, Mia herself had said it was at that very bar.

She didn't wait to see Arthur's reaction before pulling the blanket over her head.

She was tired. Truly tired. Why did she have to endure any of this?

Only two weeks left.

But she felt like she couldn't last another hour.

She vaguely heard Arthur's phone ring several times, but he didn't seem to answer.

A moment later, she heard Leo’s door open. The boy ran over with his phone, shouting without a hint of hesitation, "Auntie Mia is looking for you."

Another half hour passed, and Arthur and Leo left the house one after the other.

By then, the sky outside was beginning to grey with the early morning light.

Only after they were gone did Clara finally drift into a relaxed sleep. When she woke up again, it was dark outside once more.

She sat up, her entire body aching.

In all these days, Arthur hadn't even asked about her phone.

If he had tried to call her even once, he would have known she was completely cut off from the world.

Clara pushed herself off the sofa and slowly headed downstairs to buy some food.

Just as she reached the street, she saw Arthur and Mia around the corner, lost in an intimate conversation.

At the same time, a dark shadow blurred past her.

Before she could react, a sharp pain exploded in her abdomen.

She looked down at the blood gushing from her stomach, then looked up in a daze.

Across the street, Mia let out a piercing scream and clung tightly to Arthur’s arm. "Arthur, I'm so scared!"

The attacker, startled by the scream, panicked and stabbed Clara once more before fleeing into the night.

Clara’s legs gave out, and she slumped to the ground, watching from a distance as Arthur remained firmly by Mia’s side...