Love Like You Never Loved Before

After I was done packing, I grabbed the wedding photo and glared vacuously at it for a while.

When Lyle and I were getting married, we didn’t have a wedding ceremony, so there weren’t any wedding photos of us.

The wedding photo in my hand had actually been fabricated by me. I had taken a photo of me in a wedding dress and edited his image into the photo. Just like this photo, our marriage is nothing but a deception. Enraged, I slammed the wedding photo frame onto the ground, shattering the glass of the frame.

In the end, I took the fake wedding photo out from its frame and tore it to pieces. With my luggage in hand, I walked out of my apartment. As I was getting out of my apartment building, I couldn’t help taking a few more glances at the third floor of the building.

I can’t believe I’m still reluctant to leave this place after all that has happened to me here. My eyes were starting to tear up. I raised my head to prevent the tears from flowing down.

My only wish is to have a warm and happy family with a husband that truly loves me. Is that too much to ask?

I went to the bank to check my total savings. Agonizingly, there was only twenty thousand in my bank account. I can’t even rent a decent house in Avenport with the pittance that I saved. Guess I’ll have to rent a basement.

That being said, it’s not like I haven’t lived underground before. Back in university, I had to spend frugally every day to eke out a living. I lived in a basement back then. This isn’t new to me.

I went to various intermediary agents in the attempt to find a basement with cheap rent, but to no avail. All the available places were too expensive for me.

Standing on the streets, I realized that I was truly homeless. Even though I have a husband and a father, there isn’t a place I can ensconce myself in. How ridiculous…

Sabrina will be going out with her potential boyfriend these two days. I don’t want to trouble her now. I guess I’ll have to stay in a cheap hotel for the night. With that thought in mind, I set out in search of a hotel. When I arrived at the entrance, I was hesitant to go in when I saw the crowd of drunkards inside.

The men wolf-whistled when they saw me and even offered me a few hundred to sleep with them. How can I stay in a place like this! After a while, the rain started pouring again. Standing under the eaves of the hotel, raindrops were blown onto my face by the heavy wind.

With my teeth clenched, I went back inside the hotel to get a room. I requested a room that was isolated from other guests and quickly went inside my room. Thirsty, I poured myself a glass of water using the water bottle there. Just as I was about to drink the water, I noticed that the color of the water was a bit off.

Upon opening the cap of the water bottle, I was thoroughly revolted by what I saw. The inside of the water bottle was filled with toilet paper. After throwing the water bottle away, I laid down on the bed with a sullen look on my face. I took out my phone and started searching for job advertisements.

My grades in university were pretty good, so I was confident that I was going to find a job easily, but that was not the case. All the job advertisements that I saw required someone with at least three years of working experience. Having only one year of working experience, I was immediately rejected by them.

In dismay, I closed my eyes and fell into sleep shortly after. When I woke up, I was feeling ravenous and thirsty. I quickly opened the door and went outside to purchase a few water bottles. As I was in a hurry, I inadvertently bumped into another person around the corner.

The person I bumped into reeked of alcohol. He grabbed my hand and asked, “Five hundred for a night with a cute gal like you? I should’ve come to this hotel sooner.”

“Let me go. I’m one of the guests here.” I struggled to shake off his hand, but the drunk man thought I was teasing him. He let out a chuckle and pressed me against the wall.