I took a week off from my wife to go out with a coworker because I was sick of taking care of my disabled wife and annoyed that she had to deal with me every night for a year.

However, as soon as I opened the door on the day I got back…

My wife had an acc:ident over a year ago. She went from being a capable and energetic woman to being bedridden.

I worked and took care of her from that day on, doing laundry, cooking, and bathing. We were merely two silent bodies as we slept together at night.

I’m a young, healthy man, and I was suffocating with the accumulation of my demands and desires.

However, I was scared to discuss it for fear of criticism. until Isabel, a girl from the company, began to show interest in me, treat me with kindness, and whisper lovely things to me every night.

I fell for it without knowing it. Under the guise of a business trip, I left my wife home alone for a week, without even asking her how she was.

It was raining the day I got back.

The house seemed unusually quiet when I opened the door and stepped inside. I was thinking only on “how to lie the best way.”

However, I froze as soon as I switched on the light in the living room.

In front of me sat my wife in a wheelchair, with my parents, my in-laws, and the nurse we had hired seated next to her.

A phone, a USB flash drive, and a pile of pictures captured by a covert camera were all on the table

, detailing his activities throughout the previous seven days.

Nobody spoke. With a sigh, my mother and father-in-law departed in silence.

And my wife said, in a clear yet raspy voice:

—You are free to leave. I don’t need a husband who is just flesh and no soul from now on.

I stepped back, my hands shaking, and stumbled, “Can you… can you stand up now?”

She smiled bitterly. For the past two months, I have been working on my standing technique

. I simply didn’t anticipate that you would be the one in need of crutches.