UM CH 10

 Chapter 10

Even though I noticed it, I pretended I hadn’t seen anything.
I walked straight toward the bedroom, but my mother-in-law tugged at my sleeve a few times, saying,

“Yan Shuang, wash me an apple, will you?”

That immediately struck me as odd.
She had always kept a three-meter distance from me, afraid of my so-called “infection,”
and now she was suddenly willing to grab my arm?

She wasn’t asking for an apple—she was trying to stop me from going into the room.

So what was she hiding inside?
Was Yu Jin not home?
Even if he wasn’t, why keep me out?

If she didn’t want me to go in, then I definitely had to see for myself.

I smiled politely.

“Of course, Mom. You go sit down on the sofa—I’ll wash it for you.”

I picked up an apple, and she actually believed me, relaxing and sitting back down.
I started walking toward the kitchen, then paused mid-step as if remembering something.

“Oh right,” I said casually, “I think the fruit knife’s in the bedroom.”

Before she could react, I suddenly turned and pushed open the bedroom door.

***

My mother-in-law jumped up in shock, rushing after me—but it was too late.
I was already inside.

There was nothing unusual at first glance, except for a faint, strange smell in the air.
The curtains were pulled tightly shut, leaving the room dim.

She followed me in, muttering behind me,

“Why would a knife be in here? Stop dawdling and go wash that apple.”

“I’m sure I left it in here somewhere,” I said, pretending to look around.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a trash bag on the floor—something about it made my chest tighten.

“Weird,” I murmured, glancing back. “Can’t find it anywhere.”

“Told you it’s not here,” she said quickly. “Forget it, I don’t even want—”

“Oh! Maybe I left it in the wardrobe,” I interrupted, clapping my hands as if suddenly remembering.

And before she could stop me, I yanked the wardrobe door open.

***

Inside, everything looked almost the same as before—
except for one detail.

Right in front was a neatly folded layer of lingerie: pale pink, lace, nearly transparent.

I never wore things like that.
And my mother-in-law certainly wouldn’t.

She noticed where I was looking.
Her body tensed; her hand balled into a fist—
a nervous habit I’d seen before, the same one she had during our wedding when she was anxious and kept raising her hand to speak.

“Mom,” I asked quietly, holding up a piece between my fingers, “these aren’t yours, right?
I’ve never bought anything like this.”

She let out a nervous laugh.

“Ah? They’re not yours? Oh—right, Yu Jin’s cousin came to stay for a few days.
She just went out, and I thought those on the balcony were yours, so I brought them in.”

“Is that so?” I said lightly.

I nodded, then pulled back the blanket, pretending to tidy it as I spoke.

“Yu Jin really should learn to fold the bed properly.”

“Exactly,” she chimed in quickly, forcing a laugh. “That boy never finishes what he starts.”

I smoothed out the bedding—and froze.
On the sheet were faint, irregular white stains, scattered here and there.

My heart sank lower with every breath.

I had once believed Yu Jin was just cold to me because of my past—
because I wasn’t “pure” enough in his eyes.
But now, it was clear:
he simply didn’t love me.

I hadn’t wanted to share a bed with him, hadn’t wanted his touch,
yet over two years together I had at least once been moved by the man he’d pretended to be.
Still, everything had changed after marriage.
It was as if he had become a completely different person.

Barely a month since the wedding, and all he’d given me were disappointment and pain—
so much that I could no longer see a future in this marriage.

Maybe I’d been foolish to hope he would ever change.
Because now, standing there in that dark, suffocating room,
I realized I had completely lost faith.

How could I possibly go on like this?