His Likes Were Never Love

In my fifth year as a full-time housewife, I was diagnosed with severe depression. The only way I could prove that I was still alive was by posting on social media. I would post the dinner I'd burned, the plants withering on the balcony, or even the strands of hair that fell out late at night. My husband, Calvin Kenneth never left a comment, but he would immediately leave a like on every single post. Again and again, his likes were what made me pull my hand away from the sleeping pills. Everything seemed peaceful until, on my birthday, I found a group chat from work on his tablet. The group was called "Mr. Kenneth's Personal Image Management Team". In the group, his secretary had posted an update. "Mrs. Kenneth's post has been liked on schedule today." Calvin had replied with a thumbs-up emoji. Then, I checked his private account. His cover photo had been changed to a picture of him and his first love standing beneath the Northern Lights in Icethern. The caption read, "After all the roads I've traveled, I'm just glad to be with you in the end." Only then did I finally understand that Calvin couldn't even be bothered to pretend that he cared about me himself. Calmly, I threw the dinner I had spent the entire afternoon preparing into the trash. Then, I signed the divorce papers. Chapter 1 Calvin's Lies It was one in the morning when Calvin finally came home. When he saw that I was still awake, his brows knitted together as he said, "Didn't I tell you I had a business dinner tonight? You should've gone to bed early. Getting enough sleep will help with your condition." I looked up at him, the tears in my eyes threatening to fall. "Do you remember what day yesterday was?" I asked. Calvin took out his phone and scrolled through it. "Was there something special about yesterday?" Hearing his words, I barely had the strength to tell him that he had forgotten my birthday. While I had been making my own birthday cake, he had been discussing dinner plans with Elizabeth Winster, deciding where they should go to celebrate the first anniversary of their reunion. How ironic. It had also been exactly one year since I developed depression. I shook my head and handed him the divorce papers. "Let's get divorced." The moment Calvin saw the words on the page, whatever patience he had left finally snapped. "Melissa, all I did was come home a little late. Can you please give me a break? Ever since you were diagnosed with depression, I've had to walk on eggshells around you every single day. I can't even truly relax when I come home. Do you have any idea how hard this has been for me?" I silently held up his tablet. "So, that's why you put together a whole management team just to keep up the illusion for me?" In that split second, a flicker of surprise crossed Calvin's face. "You saw it?" Then, he gently took the tablet from my hands and explained, "I only did it because I was afraid you'd be upset if I didn't respond to your posts right away. I just wanted to make you happy. Maybe I went about it the wrong way, but I did it because I was thinking of you." He did it because he was thinking about me. That was Calvin's favorite thing to say. He had asked me to become a full-time housewife because he was thinking about me. He had created a team to fake his attention because he was thinking about me. He hadn't taken me with him to Icethern because he was thinking about me. I had always believed him until I went through the messages between him and Elizabeth today. Whenever Elizabeth had to make a decision, Calvin would carefully lay out every possible option for her. Not once did he say that he was thinking about what was best for her. Instead, he would tell her to choose whatever she wanted because he would always be there to catch her if she fell. "What about Elizabeth? When you went to Icethern with her and posted that, after everything you'd been through, you were glad you had each other—were you thinking of me then, too?" After all these years, I never once appeared on Calvin's social media. I had always assumed he simply didn't like sharing his private life online. However, after scrolling through his private account today, I discovered the cruel truth. On every important date, he had posted a memory of himself and Elizabeth. Even on the day Calvin married me, he had made a post about how much he missed her. At my question, Calvin's expression turned cold. "Did you go through my phone?" Seeing his reaction, a bitter laugh escaped my lips. I no longer had the strength to argue. Even now, he couldn't be bothered to defend himself. "Calvin, I mean it. Let's get divorced." Only then did Calvin seem to realize that I was serious. He walked over and wrapped his arms tightly around me. "Melissa, don't do this. Elizabeth only wants my help starting a company. She needs my connections, that's all. Those photos together were just part of our marketing strategy." As he spoke, I stared at him. His words seemed to fade until I could barely hear them. "Do you still remember that Elizabeth is the reason why I became depressed in the first place?" Chapter 2 I Am His Second Choice Calvin opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. I pushed him away and went back to the bedroom. My medication usually put me to sleep quickly. That night, however, I tossed and turned until dawn. I found myself thinking about the year I first became a full-time housewife. Back then, a drawing I had drawn on a whim won an award. It was only a trivial award, but Elizabeth published a post accusing me of plagiarism. That was when the endless online harassment began. After all, between a famous artist and a housewife, everyone thought it was obvious who must have copied whom. It was the first time I had ever faced so much hatred from so many strangers. But even then, I didn't break. It wasn't until I saw the news that Elizabeth had returned to the country and that Calvin had personally gone to welcome her back that I finally did. Suddenly, everyone was talking about how they had grown up together. People even began speculating that Calvin's mysterious wife—the woman he had secretly married—must be Elizabeth. When reporters asked Calvin about his thoughts on the plagiarism scandal, he merely said, "I believe Elizabeth." That was the first time I truly understood what heartbreak felt like. His answer shattered almost everything I had been holding on to. At that time, I confronted Calvin. After all, he knew I hadn't plagiarized anything, so I didn't understand why he would say something like that. However, his answer was simple. He said that I was just a full-time housewife, so how could someone like me possibly know how to draw? After that day, I became quiet. I stopped taking care of myself, and eventually, even getting out of bed felt impossible. Calvin didn't realize anything was wrong until he noticed that his shirts hadn't been washed in three days. The day I was diagnosed with severe depression was the first time I ever saw Calvin cry. "I'm sorry, Melissa," he said through his tears. "I really didn't know my words would affect you this badly…" As I looked at the tears in his eyes, I relented. Since it was the first time he had ever cried in front of me, I forgave him. But somehow, I was never able to forgive myself. Gradually, the sky outside began to brighten. Then, I heard the sound of cooking coming from the kitchen. I dragged myself out of bed and opened the door. Calvin was making breakfast for two. It was the first time I had ever seen him cook, and despite everything, hope flared uncontrollably inside me. I sat down at the dining table and waited, but the food never came. Eventually, I looked toward the kitchen and decided to bring the breakfast over myself. Before I could touch it, Calvin stopped me. "Don't. I'm taking both of these to the office." Hearing his words, I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and said, "Both of them? Neither one is for me?" Calvin ruffled my hair gently and said, "You're staying home all day anyway. Make yourself something, okay?" I could only stand there and watch as he packed both breakfasts into the lunch boxes labelled "For Elizabeth Only." Suddenly, I barely had the strength left to stand. Chapter 3 Calvin's Secret Wife I watched Calvin leave and followed his car all the way to the neighboring residential complex. A few moments later, Calvin and Elizabeth walked out together, laughing. In that split second, the world seemed to spin around me. Just as I was about to collapse, a pair of hands gently caught me. "Melissa? What are you doing here?" I forced myself to look up and realized that it was my former boss from five years ago. "What happened to you? I haven't seen you in years," she said. I managed a faint smile as I replied, "It's been a long time, Jessica." Jessica looked at me with pity in her eyes. "You have no idea how much I missed having you around. After you left, it took me years to find another marketing director as capable as you. If Calvin hadn't insisted that you go work for him, I never would've let you go." At that moment, my head snapped up. "Wasn't I laid off because our department was being restructured?" Jessica laughed and replied, "How could that be possible? Marketing was one of our most important departments! Since you didn't end up working for him anyway, why don't you come back?" I opened my mouth but couldn't find the words to respond. She patted me on the shoulder. "Come on, don't look so miserable. Why don't you come to a business banquet with me tonight? I heard Calvin and his secret wife will be there too. Will that be okay? If there's some kind of conflict between the two of you, and you'd rather not see him…" I shook my head and replied, "I'll be fine, Jessica. I'd like to meet Calvin's secret wife too." It had been years since I last attended a business banquet, and the first thing I saw when I arrived was Elizabeth walking in with her arm linked through Calvin's. Every time Calvin introduced Elizabeth to someone, he would introduce her as his wife and asked everyone to look out for her. All these years, Calvin had never once acknowledged me publicly. Even when guests came to our home, he introduced me as the housekeeper. I had fought with him over it countless times, and every time, he told me that it was not yet the right time to make our relationship public. Only now did I realize that Calvin had been saving the title of Mrs. Kenneth for Elizabeth all along. Just as I was about to turn and leave, I heard Calvin being invited onto the stage to tell everyone the story of how he and his wife had fallen in love. Calvin took the microphone and said, "Elizabeth and I met ten years ago. For the past ten years, she has always been by my side. We've been through so much together, and I'm still grateful that she never left me even when I was at my lowest. I never want her to be someone who is forced to depend on me to grow. I want her to be someone who can stand beside me." The moment I heard those words, I spun around. At the same time, I saw Elizabeth burst into tears before rushing into Calvin's arms. They looked perfect together. Back then, when Calvin had failed to inherit Kenneth Group, Elizabeth had looked down on him for being unsuccessful and thrown herself into another man's arms. I was the one who had exhausted every resource I had to help Calvin defeat his father's illegitimate son and take control of the company. Yet now, she had somehow become the one who had stood beside him through his darkest days, while I had become nothing more than someone he claimed to have kept trapped at home. I couldn't hear what Calvin said after that, as his voice faded into nothing more than a distant blur. It wasn't until he made his way around the room to toast the guests and finally reached our table that I forced myself to gather what little composure I had left. The instant Calvin saw me, his expression changed. He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the reception hall. Then, the first words out of his mouth were, "Why can't you be more sensible?" Chapter 4 Nini's Tragedy Hearing his words, I almost laughed. For all these years I had stayed at home, when had I ever not behaved? He saw me standing there, yet there was no explanation, no guilt, no apology. All there was was an accusation about why I couldn't behave. Before I could even question him, Calvin had already turned everything around on me. Somehow, I was guilty before I had even said a word. "And how exactly was I supposed to behave?" I asked. "See my husband holding another woman in his arms and politely apologize for interrupting?" I lowered my eyes, hiding the pain in them. "Calvin, let's get divorced. After that, you and Elizabeth can finally be happy together." A trace of guilt flickered in Calvin's eyes. "Melissa, once Elizabeth's company is up and running, I'll immediately release a statement saying she and I are divorced. After that, we'll have a proper wedding, okay?" I felt a bitterness in my throat. Calvin and I had been married for seven years, but we never had a wedding. It wasn't as though I had never asked, but he always said weddings weren't important. What mattered was that two people were happy together. Even when I told him that I wanted one, he brushed me off. Yet the wedding I had begged for had now become a bargaining chip, something he could offer me in exchange for stepping aside for Elizabeth. "We don't need—" I didn't even get to finish saying that we didn't need a wedding anymore before Elizabeth walked over and took Calvin by the arm. "Melissa, I'm taking Calvin with me. You two can discuss whatever you need to when you get home. After all, everything you talk about is just trivial household nonsense, while what I'm dealing with could bring Calvin millions in profit." I watched as Elizabeth led Calvin away. And just like that, I lost all desire to fight with either of them. If Calvin's heart had long since chosen Elizabeth, why should I keep putting myself through this? … After that, I texted Jessica, telling her I wasn't feeling well and would be leaving early. With that, I went home and began packing. After living there for seven years, my belongings had spread into nearly every corner of the house. I packed them away one by one until I found a document. It was a consent form for Nini's euthanasia. Nini was the kitten I had raised for almost two years, and she had once been my emotional lifeline. During the darkest days of my depression, it was Nini who had always been there beside me. Then, one morning, I woke up and couldn't find her anywhere. At that time, I called Calvin in a panic. He told me she must have gotten outside, saying that he had noticed the front door hadn't been closed properly when he came home. I searched everywhere for her, but I never found Nini. I thought it was my fault. I thought I had forgotten to shut the door properly and allowed her to wander away. For countless nights, I cried myself to sleep. I even went to fortune-tellers, desperately asking if they could tell me where Nini had gone. Never once did I imagine that Calvin would have had Nini euthanized. I sent Calvin a message. "I've found Nini." A voice message appeared. I pressed play, but the voice that came through was Elizabeth's. "Melissa, hurry up and get rid of that cat! Last time your cat shed all over Calvin's clothes, it caused me to sneeze for days! I just had one put down. Why is there another one already?" In that split second, my legs gave way beneath me as I collapsed onto the floor. That was what happened. Elizabeth was allergic to cat hair, so Calvin had sent Nini to heaven. At that thought, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer. "I want to take Calvin to court and file for divorce. During our marriage, Calvin entered into a second marriage with another woman. I want the court to grant me the divorce." … Calvin didn't come home for nearly a week. During those days, the image of Melissa appearing at the reception kept replaying in his mind. Elizabeth told him he had spoiled Melissa too much, which was why Melissa kept causing scenes over and over again. This time, she had even humiliated him in public. If he let her get away with it, who knew how far she would go next? He believed her. So, for the entire week, he used only his private account, believing that what he didn't see couldn't bother him. He didn't even bother reading any of the updates sent by his personal image management team. He gave them only one instruction. "Keep liking her posts as usual." By the time Calvin finally returned home, more than half the house was empty. Almost everything that belonged to Melissa was gone, and all that was waiting for him was a court summons. Calvin immediately opened WhatsApp and noticed that Melissa had posted an update a week earlier. "Wish me luck with my divorce." Underneath it, his personal image management team had liked the post.