The upper circles had an unwritten rule. The spouse at home had to implicitly allow their partner to keep lovers outside. I used to think such matters were purely a matter of conscience. Until Damian’s young mistress came calling. She had an innocent, naive look, standing before me. It took her a lot of courage to finally speak: “Although I know this isn’t right, Damian says he loves me, and I love him too.” “I know this sounds despicable, but it’s for your own good. I know the rules in your circle. Please, get a divorce. I’ll make sure he gives you a large sum of money as compensation.” She bowed ninety degrees to me. I suddenly found it very amusing and asked her, “Do you know that between Damian and me, he is the one I keep as my trophy boyfriend?” … “Did Damian ever tell you that the villa you live in, and the luxury car you drive, are all mine?” Seraphina’s lips moved twice, but no sound came out. The courage she had just shown, the kind that throws caution to the wind for true love, quickly vanished, leaving only panic and disbelief. “Apparently not,” I said, casually stirring my coffee. I continued, “If Damian and I divorce, everything he owns and everything he gave you will be taken back. Do you still think your love is so grand?” When Damian returned, the young woman’s face was crimson from my words. He immediately stepped forward to shield her, his eyes filled with a wariness I didn’t recognize. I asked him what this meant. He merely held Seraphina’s hand and said to me, “She’s not like the people in your circle. Don’t make things difficult for her.” My hand, holding the coffee cup, trembled for a moment. Suppressing the rising discomfort in my heart, I tilted my head to look at him. “What if I insist on making things difficult?” His gaze fell on the table behind me. I followed his gaze and saw a box full of pearls. As a meticulously cultivated heir of an upper-class family, I was never short of various high-quality men around me. Similarly, my excellence allowed me to stabilize a vast business conglomerate without needing an arranged marriage. Back then, I was always quite playful and kept many trophy boyfriends. Damian was just one of them. When I first met him, he was still a university student. Unlike those men who only cared about money with me, every time he obsessively sought my affirmation of love. He would cook me a nourishing porridge after my business dinners. I had low blood sugar, so he always carried a chocolate bar with him. One year when I was in a car accident, he knelt for three thousand steps at a temple, praying for a safety charm for me. I looked at his swollen forehead and raw knees and asked him, “Why are you so good to me?” Because at that time, I hadn’t given him much money. He said, “I love you, so I wish you well.” “It would be even better if you could love me a little, too.” Perhaps touched by his sincere affection, I dismissed all the other men around me and gave him official status. On our wedding day, he gave me a box of pearls, which weren’t particularly exquisite. He said, “I don’t have many possessions. This box of pearls was personally retrieved by me from the water. Each one is a piece of my true heart.” “Since you chose me, you mustn’t disappoint me. If you make me sad, I’ll take a pearl. When all the pearls are gone, I’ll leave you and never come back.” At the time, I only found his sincerity and innocence endearing. To reciprocate his feelings, I promised him I would never make him sad. So, all these years later, that box of pearls remains full. Not a single pearl has been taken. Damian walked over and grabbed a handful of pearls from the box. The once full box instantly lost a third of its contents. Perhaps the surprise in my eyes was too obvious, making him think his intimidation had worked. “You hurt my heart today. You should think about it.” After the two left. I sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the box of pearls. The already inexpensive pearls, after years, had long lost their original luster, becoming dull and yellow. Just like Damian’s love, which had turned sour. Before leaving, Damian said, “Don’t make things difficult for young, beautiful girls just because you’re old.” Upon reflection, Damian’s change of heart had been evident for a while. We hadn’t been intimate for a long time. I was thirty-two, an age when desires are still present. But every time I saw a hint of resistance in Damian’s expression, I merely assumed he was tired from work and didn’t press him. It turned out he was saving his energy for someone else. That girl was indeed young and beautiful. I looked at myself in the mirror; in my thirties, I was still radiant, looking as young as someone in their twenties. My entire demeanor exuded the elegance and beauty accumulated by wealth. I wasn’t even a bit inferior to the actresses on TV. I tossed my slightly curled hair. I called a friend. “That young actor you mentioned last time, arrange a meeting for me.” My friend’s laughter came through the phone. “I really thought you were going to stick with that boy toy for life.” “Everyone in our circle has a few on the side. Only you were willing to be faithful to him.” I used to believe that loyalty was the most fundamental principle for a partner. So, in all these years of marriage with Damian, no matter what people outside said, I never had anyone else. “Why the sudden change of heart?” “I just find him rather uninteresting. Don’t want to waste any more time.” “Is one not enough then? Old place tonight. I’ll find you a few more, you can pick.” “Alright.” After hanging up, I had my personal makeup artist give me a head-to-toe makeover, then left the house. In a private room at the Pinnacle Hotel, eight young, handsome men stood. My friend sat beside me, signaling to them, “Hurry up and attend to her. If you get noticed by Ms. Thompson, you’ll be set for life.” The men instantly crowded around me, asking if I needed anything. To be honest, it felt quite good. After three rounds of drinks, I went to the restroom. Passing the private room next door, the door was slightly ajar, and I heard Damian’s voice from inside. His friend asked him, “Your wife is a rich woman, after all. You don’t come home for days, aren’t you afraid she’ll dump you?” “I don’t want to go back and smell her old-lady smell. If you like it, you go smell it.” “I don’t want to. Who would be attracted to an old woman?” “But, you’re relying on her after all…” “What are you talking about? My buddy Damian has that old woman wrapped around his finger. Has she ever found anyone else all these years?” Damian, toying with a discolored pearl in his hand, said, “It’s fine. She’s most afraid of me leaving her.” “She used to have plenty of people around her, but ever since I pulled that countdown stunt with this box of pearls, she’s chased all those men away.” “Damian is awesome. A box of cheap pearls made a rich woman devoted to him.” He slung an arm around Seraphina next to him. “She’s in her thirties now, past her prime. She’s not the pretty sister she used to be. If she keeps making a fuss, I’ll disappear, make her go through hell to get me back, and see if she regrets it.” When I returned to the private room. I sent a message to my secretary. I told her to cancel all of Damian’s credit cards. Spending my money while slandering me with his hangers-on? There’s no such thing as a free lunch. “So, anyone you like?” I finally looked up, carefully scrutinizing the men before me, then pointed to the one in the middle. “You, come here. The others can leave.” The moment I finished speaking, my assistant pulled several stacks of cash from her bag and handed them over. “Ms. Thompson doesn’t like her private life being discussed.” They took the money and left joyfully. “He’s the young actor I told you about. He’s twenty this year, his name is Ethan, just starting out, absolutely clean.” I waved him over. Ethan walked to my side, and I reached out to touch his abs. Very firm, very useful. “Feed me.” My friend discreetly left. He held a shrimp in his mouth, leaned down towards me, his breath filled with youthful pheromones. Damian was right about one thing. When there are younger people, who would want to stay with an old thing? “Please, love me.” “Good boy.” That night, I didn’t stop until dawn, relishing the experience. So much so that I missed Damian’s barrage of calls. This kind of experience was something the 28-year-old Damian could no longer give me. He was old, it was time for a change. As I left, I left behind a card and a phone number. “I’m very satisfied. Let’s keep in touch.” Ethan’s eyes, as he took the bank card, sparkled with excitement and satisfaction. See? As long as I had money, I could find anyone I wanted. Refreshed after a night of pleasure, my complexion was exceptionally good today. At work, my secretary even complimented me on how beautiful I looked and asked me to recommend a beauty salon. Perhaps because of my good mood, the workday felt unusually easy today. This good mood lasted until I came home that evening. In the villa, Damian sat on the living room sofa, his face contorted in anger. I thought he had found out about me seeing other men. But he questioned me, “Why did you have my credit cards stopped? Do you know how embarrassed I was yesterday when I couldn’t pay for dinner with my friends?” “So? What does that have to do with me?” “Rose Thompson, are you making a fuss with me because of Seraphina? She’s just a little sister to me.” “Damian, do you believe that yourself?” “Don’t you dare act like you like to play around outside and assume everyone else is the same. Your accusing me like this just shows you want to go out and play again, doesn’t it?” “Your circle is always so disgusting. You’re not clean yourselves, so you assume everyone else is the same.” I truly never imagined he could be so shameless. If he had openly admitted to having a mistress, at most I would have thought he was a useless moocher who couldn’t even manage his sugar mommy. But he actually shifted all the blame onto me, making me feel utterly disgusted. He grabbed another large handful of pearls from the box. “You’re not young anymore. No one else will love you like I do. Take care of yourself.” Looking at the pearl box, which was now mostly empty, I curved my lips. “Suit yourself.” Seeing my indifference, Damian became somewhat exasperated. “Rose Thompson, you’ve truly hurt me today.” “I won’t be coming home for a while. When you realize your mistake, I’ll return.” Although I never understood where his confidence for arguing with me came from, perhaps he thought a woman over thirty would be anxious about love? Did he believe that my indulgence over the years made him think he had complete control over me? But I still stepped aside from the doorway. “Please do.” During Damian’s absence, he would occasionally return. He told me to buy a car for his girlfriend as an apology, and when I refused, he would come back and take some pearls. He spotted a villa and asked me to buy it for him. When I didn’t pay, he would return and take more pearls. Back and forth, the once full box was left with only a few scattered pearls. In truth, I was quite curious: if all the pearls were gone, would Damian truly leave voluntarily? Thinking this, I had my lawyer draft a divorce agreement. My assets were too vast, and a divorce would take a long time, but my only demand was that he leave with nothing. I had just finished my call with the lawyer when I saw a message from Ethan. “Cartier’s gala invited me. Will you be there?” I asked my assistant, and indeed, Cartier had sent me an invitation. Normally, I wouldn’t attend such sales-driven galas, but I hadn’t seen Ethan for days, and I missed his body. So I replied, “Yes.”
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