After a month without seeing me, Jon walked into my hospital room at a large medical center in Boston and placed a divorce lawyer’s business card on the small table beside my bed. He did not ask whether I was all right. He did not ask how I was feeling. He did not even look at me long enough to pretend he cared.

He looked at me as if I were an old piece of furniture he had finally decided to throw away, then gave a small, careless laugh.

“Divorcing a wife who doesn’t work sounds fair to me. You can pay me one thousand dollars a month in support. That should be fine. Take care of yourself.”

Jon said it as though the matter had already been settled. Standing beside him, Emily wrapped her arm around his, wearing the same smug expression on her face.

“Fine,” I said calmly. “Then let’s divorce.”

I said it so casually that Jon looked surprised for a moment. But a few seconds later, he turned toward Emily, and the two of them exchanged a satisfied smile.

It was almost a relief that Jon was not the kind of man who thought too deeply. That made my plan much easier to carry out.

After the divorce papers were approved, I decided to begin my plan against both of them. I would make them face the truth, and I would treat that moment as a celebration of my recovery and the beginning of the life I was taking back.

My name is Sarah Wolf. I am forty-seven years old, an illustrator living in Massachusetts, and I also write children’s books. More than anything else, I love to draw. The smell of new paper, a box of watercolor paints near the window, afternoon light falling across my desk—those things have always made life feel meaningful to me.

I had two childhood friends: Jon and Emily. They had once been incredibly important to me. Jon, the boy who grew up beside me among quiet streets, small bakeries, and red autumn leaves in New England, later became my husband.

It all started when Jon confessed his feelings for me near the end of high school, just before I left for a different college. I was shocked, because I had always believed he liked Emily.

But I could not say no to a confession from Jon, the person I had secretly loved for years.

After thinking about it for a long time and talking it over with Emily, I accepted Jon’s proposal. Back then, I believed I was stepping into a beautiful story, a marriage built on friendship, memories, and trust.

Emily had shown some troubling behavior since we were teenagers, but to Jon and me, she was still a dear friend. She had a habit of stepping into other people’s relationships, making their boyfriends fall for her, and then leaving them once they became too attached. It caused problems more than once.

Her parents were worried about her, so Jon and I often spent time with her, partly as friends and partly because we wanted to keep an eye on her before she went too far.

Jon and I got married when we were twenty-five. Four years later, Emily brought her fiancé into our lives. His name was George, and he worked for a well-known company in New York.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sarah and Jon,” George said when we first met. “Emily has told me so much about both of you. I’m looking forward to spending more time together.”

George was polite, calm, and sincere. We all got along quickly. During holidays, vacations, and free weekends, our group often gathered together. We traveled, took long train rides through small towns, had a little wine, talked for hours, and enjoyed days that seemed as though they would never change.

But everything began to crack after Emily became pregnant two years into her marriage with George.

Jon and I both came from families with several siblings, so neither of us felt any pressure to have children for the sake of carrying on a family line or pleasing anyone else. After many serious conversations, we decided not to have children. We loved children, but we did not truly want the daily responsibility of raising one.

We also loved our freedom. We liked taking trips on a whim, spending evenings in small bars, or suddenly driving up to the coast of Maine just because the weather was beautiful. When we saw families with children, we felt warmth, but that feeling never made us change our decision.

When Emily announced her pregnancy, Jon’s attitude began to change.

He quit smoking because Emily said she could not stand the smell. He even used his vacation days to drive her to her doctor’s appointments.

I warned him gently.

“If you keep going with Emily all the time, George might feel hurt or uncomfortable.”

Jon immediately pushed back.

“You have work too, don’t you? Emily is our childhood friend, and she’s asking for help. You’re being cold.”

I tried to stay calm.

“I still buy things for her. I still help where I can. But going with her to every pregnancy checkup crosses a line.”

When I said that, Jon frowned and looked at me with irritation.

“Why? Because Emily wants me there? She says she feels anxious about the checkups. I can’t just let her go alone if she’s scared.”

“If she feels anxious, that’s even more reason for George to go with her. If you go every time, people will start thinking you’re the father of the baby she’s carrying.”

Jon let out a sharp, unpleasant laugh.

“Are you jealous? You’re not going to get pregnant anyway, so what’s the problem?”

He did not take my concerns seriously at all. Instead, he began snapping at me and saying I was being annoying.

Before that, we had hardly ever had serious arguments during our marriage. But after Emily became pregnant, fights between Jon and me became more frequent. They did not stop after Emily gave birth. In fact, Jon began spending even more time with Emily and her daughter, Emma.

When Emma turned six, something happened that made it impossible for me to keep lying to myself. It involved who would attend Emma’s kindergarten graduation ceremony.

The evening before the graduation, Jon suddenly began rummaging through the closet.

“Jon, what are you doing? Do you have a meeting tomorrow?”

Jon’s workplace had a fairly casual dress code, but he had to wear a suit when meeting clients. That was why he always kept a few suits ready in the closet. Now all of them were thrown across the bed.

“Oh, no,” Jon said. “I’m just trying to decide what to wear to the graduation ceremony tomorrow.”

I froze.

“You’re seriously planning to attend the graduation?”

“Yeah. George can’t make it. Emily asked me.”

“Wait. That’s completely unreasonable.”

I raised my voice before I could stop myself. Jon’s face immediately darkened.

I knew he sometimes picked Emma up from kindergarten, and I had done the same when asked. But for a childhood friend who was neither her biological parent nor her legal guardian to attend a graduation ceremony as if he were family was far beyond normal.

Jon looked at me coldly.

“You still suspect me and Emily? I’m disappointed that you can’t even help a friend.”

“That’s not the point.”

“No matter what you say, I’m going tomorrow. Iron a shirt properly for me.”

Jon ended the conversation abruptly, leaving me behind as he walked into the bedroom.

I had no choice but to call Emily.

“Hello, Emily. About tomorrow—”

Emily laughed softly on the other end of the line.

“Oh, sorry about tomorrow. I’m borrowing Jon for a little while.”

“But won’t George be upset about the graduation?”

“Sarah, what are you talking about? Obviously, I haven’t told George the graduation is tomorrow. I’ll tell him after the ceremony.”

I was shocked to learn that George did not even know the schedule of his own daughter’s graduation. When I questioned her further, I found out that Emily had not told George about any of Emma’s kindergarten events so far. Meanwhile, Jon had been showing up at the school as though he were Emma’s father.

My hands trembled with anger and disbelief.

“Wait a minute, Emily. Don’t you see how unreasonable that is? It’s disrespectful to George. Even if Jon is your childhood friend, this is not right.”

Emily answered as though I were the strange one.

“Oh, Sarah, why are you being so scary? Anyway, see you tomorrow.”

“Wait, Emily—”

She hung up on me.

I stood there shaking with anger. Still, in the end, I ironed Jon’s shirt, prepared his tie, and saw him off to Emma’s graduation ceremony the next morning. By then, I knew very well that something in my marriage had quietly slipped out of place.

From that point on, Emily and Jon started going out together more often. First it was once a month, then once a week, and eventually three times a week.

Even George began to grow suspicious. One late evening, while Jon and Emily were out together, George came to my house alone.

“I’m sorry for visiting so late,” he said, standing on the porch under the soft yellow light. “There’s something that has been bothering me.”

I looked at him and asked quietly.

“Is it about the two of them?”

George nodded.

“Yes. I want you to look at this.”

George showed me the GPS history he had installed in Emily’s car. The records showed that she had been staying at a hotel three times a week. Every one of those days matched the times she had gone out with Jon.

Just by looking at George’s face, I understood what it meant.

I asked softly.

“What do you want to do, George?”

He looked straight at me.

“I want them to answer for what they’ve done.”

“So do I,” I replied. “I can’t forgive them for betraying us after all these years.”

From that night on, George and I began secretly preparing a plan to make the truth come out.

The first thing I did was increase my income. Before then, because I had spent so much time doing housework and caring for Emma whenever needed, my income had dropped significantly. I was still taking illustration work and writing children’s books, but I had not been pushing my career the way I could have.

George switched to working from home. Whenever Emily and Jon went out, he brought Emma to my house, and we took care of her together.

Emily and Jon had no idea that we knew about their relationship. Because of that, we were able to gather clear and solid evidence.

Once we had enough evidence and were nearly ready to act, a shocking truth about Emma came to light.

George and I struggled deeply with that truth. But after thinking it over again and again, we agreed that we did not want to hurt Emma while she was still young. So we decided to wait until she was old enough before doing anything.

We prepared ourselves to endure ten more years. But life does not always follow the plan we make for it.

I was diagnosed with a serious illness and had to be hospitalized long-term. Even in the best case, I would not be discharged for at least two years.

I could still work from my hospital room, but it was clear I would have to reduce my workload. After telling George about the situation, I also consulted Jon.

Jon’s reaction was no different from how he would respond to casual small talk.

“Hmm. I’ll visit once in a while.”

That was all.

I felt clearly that Jon no longer had any affection left for me. He did not even ask about my condition, the name of my illness, what the doctors had said, or whether I was scared.

In reality, Jon visited only once a month, sometimes once every two months.

After Emma’s fifteenth birthday, she began acting strangely. Right after I was hospitalized, Emma had visited me almost every day. But after her fifteenth birthday, she suddenly became distant.

Neither George nor I understood why. When we asked Emma, she only shook her head and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

We did not know what to do until we eventually learned the reason from Jon, who rarely showed up at all.

One day, he walked into my hospital room without even knocking.

“It’s been a while,” Jon said.

“Yes, it has.”

Jon had completely changed. He wore flashy clothes and carried himself as if he were trying to prove he was living a glamorous new life. After not seeing me for a month, he placed a divorce lawyer’s business card on the table beside me without asking whether I was okay or how my health was.

“Divorcing a wife who doesn’t work makes sense. You can pay me one thousand dollars a month in support. That’s the deal, so take care.”

Jon said it with a grin that stretched across his face. Beside him, Emily wrapped her arm around his, wearing the same smug expression.

“Fine,” I said calmly. “Let’s divorce, then.”

My easy agreement seemed to surprise Jon for a moment. But soon he exchanged a smile with Emily, and both of them looked as if they had already won.

It was fortunate that Jon was not the type to think too deeply. That was exactly why my plan worked so well.

After receiving confirmation that the divorce from Jon had been finalized, I decided to begin the plan I had prepared for the two of them.

I would make them face everything they had done, and I would treat it as a celebration of my recovery.

I immediately took action.

First, I contacted George and arranged to transfer to another hospital. Then I informed my lawyer that from that point on, all communication between the parties would go through legal representatives.

George began to act at the same time. He moved near my new hospital with Emma and started visiting me frequently.

Emma still looked gloomy, but I was happy that she came to see me every day.

Most of my belongings were already in my hospital room, so I told Jon to dispose of whatever was left. I did not want to bring anything the two of them might have touched into my new life.

Once my hospital transfer and George and Emma’s move were settled, I received a call from Jon.

I had only stepped away from my phone for a few minutes, but the screen already showed thirty missed calls. I sighed and answered.

“What is it?”

Jon’s panicked voice burst through the phone.

“What the hell is going on?”

Behind Jon’s voice, I could hear a troubled real estate agent trying to explain something. I also heard Emily shouting, which made me feel sick with disgust.

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” I asked.

“The house! What else would I be talking about? Why do we have to move out?”

Jon yelled at me as though none of it had anything to do with him.

I answered coolly.

“Obviously, because that is my house.”

“Huh?”

It seemed Jon had completely forgotten the truth. The home we had lived in was originally an apartment I rented as a studio when I first began making a living as a freelancer. At the time, I did not have enough income to maintain two places, and Jon did not have enough income to live on his own, so he moved in with me.

In other words, Jon had never paid the rent or utility bills for that apartment. He gave me some money for living expenses, but it was not enough to maintain the place.

Unfortunately for him, the lease had already been canceled.

The apartment was too far from the hospital I had transferred to, so I processed the cancellation the day after submitting the divorce papers. I did not inform Jon because the real estate agent, who knew the situation, said they would contact him directly.

Jon shouted into the phone.

“George and Emma suddenly disappeared, and our house was sold too! What are we supposed to do about a new place to live?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe stay in a business hotel for now.”

I put the phone on speaker and went back to working on the sketch in front of me. Jon immediately yelled in frustration.

“Don’t mess with me!”

Then he seemed to remember something, and his tone suddenly softened.

“Whatever. Forget that for now. When are you transferring the money? We’re running low on cash.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. I told you to pay eleven thousand dollars, didn’t I?”

“Oh. I don’t recall agreeing to that.”

My calm answer was met with incoherent shouting from Jon on the other end of the line. Apparently, he had truly believed he could get money from me, so he had already been spending recklessly. Even if he had eleven thousand dollars left, I had no idea how he planned to get through the rest of the month.

“Hey, don’t just stay silent. Say something!”

“There’s really nothing to talk about.”

My response left Jon speechless for a moment. Soon, however, he started yelling again. Growing tired of it, I used the brightest tone I could manage.

“Anyway, we’re basically strangers now. Please don’t contact me anymore. You’ll hear from my lawyer.”

“Huh? Lawyer? Hey, wait a minute—”

I hung up without listening to the rest of Jon’s sentence.

He tried calling back several times, but I ignored him. Eventually, the calls stopped.

However, because he was angry that I refused to answer, Jon started ignoring calls from my lawyer. I knew he had a childish side, but I never imagined he was the kind of person who did not mind causing trouble for others simply because things had not gone his way.

I sighed deeply at Jon’s selfishness.

A few months later, during a temporary discharge from the hospital, I visited Jon’s parents’ house. Sitting in front of me were Jon and Emily, both looking small and nervous, like children who had been caught doing something wrong.

Jon clenched his jaw.

“Dragging my parents into this is a low blow.”

I answered calmly.

“I simply reported that we got divorced.”

Jon glared at me, but immediately shrank back under his father’s stern gaze.

In truth, I had always had a good relationship with my former in-laws. Even when Jon was not around, I often visited them, had dinner with them, and talked with them. They treated me like a daughter.

Because they had loved me so warmly, I felt it would be wrong not to tell them the important details of our divorce. That was why I went to see them.

Jon’s father looked at his son, his voice low.

“Is it true that you’re planning to remarry Emily?”

Jon nodded.

“Yes, it’s true. Emily, Emma, and I are going to start over as a family.”

“What are you talking about?” Jon’s mother said. “Your family is Sarah.”

Jon frowned.

“She’s not my family anymore.”

Jon’s words made his father frown with an expression that seemed to say he could not believe what he was hearing.

Jon shook his head a few times, then handed me a piece of paper.

It was a bill from a nearby luxury hotel.

I looked at the paper.

“What is this?”

Jon pointed at the bill on the table as if it were obvious.

“It’s the hotel bill from where we stayed.”

At that moment, Jon’s mother looked as if she could hardly bear it.

“Oh, my goodness. I did not raise you to become this kind of man.”

She struggled to catch her breath, while Jon stared at her in confusion. Emily, standing beside him, wore the same expression.

Jon asked, “Why are you so angry? The family is just changing because I’m getting married. Besides, you’ll have a grandchild. One who is actually related to me by blood. Aren’t you happy?”

Jon’s mother looked at him as though she could not believe what she had just heard. Then her gaze shifted to me.

Both Jon’s father and mother had understood that I did not want children, and they had still treated me as their own daughter. Of course, they had also been kind to Emily because she was a childhood friend of Jon and me, but there had always been a boundary between a daughter-in-law and a friend of their son.

I remembered Emily often complaining about that boundary. That was why I was certain Jon’s mother would not be happy about this situation. Emily should have known that too.

Emily stepped forward slightly, trying to sound sweet.

“You care about Emma, don’t you? She’ll be your granddaughter, so you’ll be happy, right?”

Jon’s mother answered coldly.

“I care about her because she is a child I have known since she was little.”

Emily still tried to smile.

“But half of her blood comes from Jon.”

Seeing Emily show no remorse at all, acting as though she could not understand what the problem was, gave me chills.

At that moment, someone who had been silent until then finally spoke.

“That’s enough. It’s disgusting.”

It was Emma.

She had been sitting in the corner of the room, looking at her phone. She spoke to Emily without even lifting her eyes at first.

The entire room fell silent.

Emma continued slowly.

“I only have one father. The only person I consider my father is Dad George. Whether we’re related by blood or not, he is my only father.”

Emily looked startled.

“But you know Jon has always been the one attending your school events.”

Emma looked up, and her gaze was so cold that Emily fell silent.

“I heard everything from Dad. How he was always told about the dates after the events were already over. How, eventually, the events themselves were hidden from him. But Dad always said I was his daughter. So I am his daughter. And I will never be yours.”

Emma looked straight at Emily as she said those words. Then she came to sit beside me, took my hand, and softened her voice.

“Sarah, when I found out about this, I thought you would hate me. But Dad said that wasn’t true. That’s why I came here today.”

I squeezed Emma’s hand.

“Emma, I love you very much. You were so kind to visit me every day while I was in the hospital. I was truly happy because of that.”

“Sarah…”

Perhaps finally relieved of the fear she had carried, Emma began to cry and hugged me tightly.

Yes, she might have been the child born from Jon and Emily’s wrong choices. But she was also the child I had cared for over fifteen years. There was no way I could simply stop loving her.

I looked at Emily.

“By the way, Emily, weren’t you curious why I wasn’t surprised when I learned that Emma was Jon’s daughter?”

Emily froze.

“Ah…”

Before she could say anything, another person entered the room.

“We knew from the beginning. More precisely, we knew ten years ago.”

It was George.

Emily’s shock was understandable. Recently, she had unilaterally demanded a divorce from George, claiming they had irreconcilable differences.

George looked at Emily and spoke calmly.

“I was surprised when you mentioned divorce. Oh, and unfortunately, you’re not divorced yet. The divorce papers are still here. Didn’t you notice?”

Emily’s eyes widened.

“What?”

I knew Emily and Jon were not the type to check paperwork carefully, but I still could not help being stunned that Emily had failed to notice the issue even after months had passed.

George continued.

“So Emily is still my wife, and Emma is still my daughter. Though soon, I suppose there won’t be a wife anymore.”

Emily panicked.

“Wait. What do you mean? A fifteen-year-old can choose which parent to live with? That’s not true. Emma wants to be with Mom, right?”

Emily said that and looked at Emma.

Emma frowned and held my hand tighter.

Emily was speechless at Emma’s reaction, then turned and glared at me.

At that moment, Jon suddenly burst into laughter.

“So that’s what this is. You two are together now, huh? But too bad. Isn’t it impossible to live on George’s salary alone?”

I looked at Jon and no longer felt anger. I only felt tired.

“Can you stop making strange assumptions? Also, it seems George earns about twice as much as you think. Did Emily know that?”

Emily froze.

“Huh?”

Jon immediately said, “That’s probably a bluff. Besides, it’s impossible for you to work while dealing with your illness. You’ll just end up alone and miserable somewhere.”

This time, I laughed at Jon’s enormous misunderstanding.

Seeing me laugh made Jon even more frustrated.

“What are you laughing at?”

Jeg kiggede på ham.

“Du vidste ikke noget om min indkomst, vel?”

Jon trak på skuldrene.

“Det er nok bare lidt mere end et deltidsjob.”

“Nej,” sagde jeg. “Det er meget anderledes. Min årlige indkomst er fem hundrede tusind dollars.”

Jons mund faldt åben. Hans øjne blev store, og han kunne ikke lukke munden. Emily var også lamslået.

Faktisk var jeg i løbet af de sidste ti år blevet en populær børnebogsforfatter. Min indkomst var steget dramatisk gennem bogsalg, illustrationer, interviews, essays, rettighedsaftaler og andre projekter.

Derudover var der planlagt en filmatisering, så min indkomst steg stadig.

Jon stammede.

“Det er en løgn.”

Jeg svarede roligt.

“Vil du se?”

Jeg viste Emily skærmen på min bankkonto. Den viste tydeligt et stort beløb, der blev indsat hver måned.

Emily stirrede på skærmen, fuldstændig ude af stand til at tale.

Jons stemme ændrede sig pludselig.

“Sarah … hvorfor bliver vi ikke venner igen?”

“Hæ?”

Emily blev rasende over Jons ord. Jeg betragtede scenen tomt og åbnede så langsomt munden.

“Hvis I to vil giftes, er I velkomne. Åh, og jeg vil helt sikkert kræve fuld erstatning for den forvoldte skade.”

Jon råbte hurtigt efter mig.

“Sarah, vent. Sarah!”

Jeg ignorerede ham, tog Emmas hånd, sagde farvel til Jons forældre og forlod huset.

Jon havde oprindeligt arbejdet i sin fars firma, men det blev senere afsløret, at han havde løjet om at gå ud til salgsmøder. I virkeligheden havde han brugt sin arbejdstid på personlige udflugter. Som følge heraf blev Jon afskediget.

Jons far planlagde at sende ham på arbejde på en fiskerbåd gennem en ven i håb om, at hårdt arbejde ville lære ham ansvar. Arbejde på en fiskerbåd var ekstremt krævende, især for Jon, der elskede at blive indendørs og undgik alt, der var fysisk vanskeligt.

Jon kontaktede mig flere gange, men hver gang han gjorde det, informerede jeg hans far. Til sidst stoppede opkaldene.

Emily mistede forældremyndigheden over Emma til George og færdiggjorde sin skilsmisse. Hun virkede uinteresseret i Jon, da han ikke længere kunne tilbyde hende en luksuriøs livsstil, og hun virkede ikke til at jagte ham.

Emilys familie afbrød båndene til hende. Hun boede alene i en forfalden lejlighed. Fordi hun næsten ikke havde arbejdet overhovedet efter at være blevet gift og altid havde ladet andre klare tingene for hende, kæmpede hun med at udføre selv basale opgaver. Meget få steder var villige til at ansætte hende som fuldtidsansat.

Alligevel skulle hun betale for sine leveomkostninger og børnebidrag, så hun havde flere deltidsjob og fik knap nok enderne til at mødes.

Efter hun startede i gymnasiet, studerede Emma hårdt hver dag. Hun ville studere i udlandet og gå på et prestigefyldt universitet i udlandet.

Emma havde altid været flittig. Hendes drøm var at oversætte mine billedbøger og levere dem til børn over hele verden. Hver gang hun sagde det, fyldtes mit hjerte med varme.

Hvad mig angår, fortsatte mine billedbøger med at sælge godt. Jeg modtog flere og flere tilbud på animerede filmatiseringer og merchandise. Det kreative arbejde, Jon engang havde set ned på, var blevet døren til mit nye liv.

Min sygdom udviklede sig også i en positiv retning. Selvom jeg stadig var indlagt, fortalte min læge mig for nylig, at jeg måske ville kunne forlade hospitalet næste år.

Og der var én ting mere.

George og Emma kom på besøg hver dag.

Faktisk havde George for nylig tilstået sine følelser for mig, og jeg havde alvorligt talt om at gifte mig igen. Jeg havde ikke givet ham mit svar endnu, men jeg kunne ikke benægte, at jeg havde følelser for ham.

George sagde, at han ville have, at vi skulle bo sammen, efter jeg forlod hospitalet.

Mens jeg overvejede, hvilket svar jeg skulle give ham, fortsatte jeg med at arbejde på mine billedbøger hver dag i håb om en lykkelig fremtid for os alle.

Og i dag væver jeg endnu engang nye historier.