Tested to the Brink

My wife was an absolute drama queen. Every few days, she’d come up with some twisted, agonizing way to test my love. One day, she hired a stunning model to lure me to a hotel room while she hid under the bed, listening in. The next, she showed me a forged medical report claiming she had contracted HIV, only confessing the truth three days later. Later, she dressed a mannequin in her clothes and threw it off a balcony, staging her own suicide. My heart nearly stopped, and the whole neighborhood ended up laughing at me. I was already pushed to the brink of utter exhaustion. Then came today. She sent me a photo of her in bed with her male best friend. That was the final straw. "Chloe! You've gone way too far this time! Faking a pregnancy test?!" I gripped the prank test stick tightly, glaring down at my wife curled up on the couch. My chest heaved with boiling rage. A few hours ago, she had sent me a picture of two pink lines. I had been over the moon, asking her again and again if it was real. She swore it was. Said she was already two weeks along. I thought no one would ever joke about something so sacred. So I believed her, immediately calling my grandmother to share the incredible news. On the phone, Grandma laughed with pure, childlike joy. She kept repeating how wonderful it was, having waited so long for a great-grandchild. Who could have guessed that after rushing home with a heart full of excitement, I'd be greeted by such a sickening prank? Chloe clung to my arm, her voice soft and whiny. "Babe, I just wanted to test you, okay? To see if you really love me." "Besides, I was scared. What if you turned out to be one of those deadbeats online who forces his wife to get an abortion...?" She shook my arm playfully. "Don't be mad anymore, please? Forgive me?" Hearing those same worn-out excuses for the hundredth time, I went dead silent. Exhaustion washed over me like a tidal wave. Honestly, after putting up with her ridiculous antics over and over again, my patience was at its absolute limit. Deep regret clawed at my heart. How blind had I been to fall head over heels for a woman this toxic? Back in high school, Chloe had been the campus crush, every guy’s dream girl. After graduation, I chased her relentlessly. I went to the same college just to be near her, spending five grueling years pursuing her. Finally, after countless sleepless nights of sheer persistence, I got what I wanted and married her. I thought she was my forever dream girl, my guiding light. But married life shattered that fantasy into dust. Chloe was a nightmare. Every few days, she had to stir up drama, inventing bizarre, suffocating tests to measure my loyalty. Last month, she tricked me into a hotel room and hired a gorgeous girl with an insane body to seduce me. The setup was textbook, and the girl threw herself at me. Almost any guy would have folded. But I had morals. I flat-out refused. Then Chloe crawled out from under the bed, clapping her hands and calling it a "test." Another time, she produced a fake lab report showing she was HIV positive, sobbing her eyes out and saying she had somehow contracted the virus. My heart sank into an abyss, but I still wrapped my arms around her. "Don't be scared. We'll face this together." Two sleepless nights later, she handed me her real, clean lab report with a playful grin: "Congratulations, you passed the test!" The absolute worst incident happened last month. She dressed a mannequin in her favorite red dress and pushed it off our second-floor balcony, staging a horrific fall. I walked home from work and witnessed it firsthand. My heart nearly exploded. Seeing what looked like her body lying in a pool of fake blood, I scrambled over on hands and knees, wailing hysterically. The whole neighborhood came running outside. When she stepped out from behind the door giggling, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the pavement, completely speechless. Her tests drained the life out of me. And now, she had weaponized a pregnancy. How was I supposed to face my elderly grandmother now? Remembering Grandma's fragile, overjoyed voice on the phone made me feel like I was suffocating. "Babe, I really know I messed up." Chloe buried her face in my shoulder, her voice trembling with tears. "I swear, this was the last test." "After everything, I finally believe you truly love me. Now I can safely have your baby." Looking down at her tear-streaked face, I took a deep, shaky breath, forcing down the overwhelming helpless rage inside me. "Chloe, you said it yourself. The last time." She nodded vigorously, raising three fingers. "I swear! It will never, ever happen again!" I chose to believe her. Or rather, I gave myself one last excuse to hold onto this marriage. Naively, I assumed that since she had even crossed the line with a fake pregnancy, she had finally run out of crazy ideas. I was wrong. Peace lasted less than a week before Chloe pulled another stunt. And this time, she shattered a boundary I could never forgive.Today, I was on an out-of-town business trip, meeting a key client to close a crucial contract. Landing this deal would guarantee my promotion to senior project manager. I had spent weeks preparing every detail in private. Right as Mr. Miller and I reached the most critical point of our negotiation, the phone in my pocket buzzed violently, over and over. "Excuse me, Mr. Miller." I offered an apologetic smile, pulling out my phone to turn on Do Not Disturb so our pitch wouldn't be interrupted. The screen lit up with a message from Chloe. For some inexplicable reason, my thumb tapped the notification. "Babe, I'm so bored without you here. I invited Tyler over to keep me company. You don't mind, right?" What? She brought her male best friend into our home? Fury surged straight to my head. Every man naturally detests those so-called "best guy friends" with murky boundaries. Bringing him straight into our private house was crossing the line completely! Before I could type a reply, another picture popped up. The moment I saw it, my pupils constricted, and the blood in my veins turned to ice. In the photo, Chloe and her best friend, Tyler, were completely naked, wrapped in a tight embrace on a bed. And Chloe was looking straight into the lens, an almost provocative smirk of triumph plastered across her face! Beneath the image was a caption, stabbing into me like a poisoned blade: "Babe, I was just too lonely, and his body is so hot. I couldn't help myself. Please forgive me just this once." "Chloe! What the hell are you doing?!" My rage blew past all restraint. I slammed my hands down, shot up from my chair, and roared at the screen. "Enough!" A voice dripping with cold fury snapped from across the table. I snapped out of it. Mr. Miller was already standing up, his face dark as thunder. The warm, receptive demeanor he had held moments ago was replaced by pure disgust. "I thought your firm came here with genuine professionalism. Clearly, I was mistaken. Mr. Foster, since your personal life is so thrilling and demanding, let's not waste each other's time. This partnership is off!" Panic gripped me like an icy bucket of water poured over my head. I woke up to reality. "Mr. Miller! Please, let me explain! It's a misunderstanding! Just give me one more chance!" I scrambled around the conference table, practically bowing as I chased after him to apologize. Mr. Miller coldly shoved my hand away, marching out of the room without looking back once. It was over. The project was dead in the water. My hands shook uncontrollably as I dialed Chloe's number. I had to know what kind of psychotic episode she was having! Ring... It barely rang once before she cut the call! Right after, a ping came through. A text from Chloe: "Babe, stop calling. You're going to ruin the mood for us. Talk later, bye!" "Aaargh!" A guttural roar ripped from my throat as my fist smashed against the polished mahogany table. Trembling, I typed back: "Chloe, I put up with your tantrums, but I never imagined you were this shameless!" I hit send. A harsh red exclamation mark flashed on the screen. Refusing to believe it, I dialed again. She had blocked my number, along with every single messaging app! "Chloe! You bitch!" I clenched my fists so tight my knuckles turned white. Pure wrath consumed my sanity. I had to get home. That woman owed me an explanation, right now!The moment I reached home, I kicked the front door wide open. The scene before my eyes made my blood boil! On the couch, Tyler was sitting with his back to me, his hands cradling Chloe's cheeks. Even an idiot could tell what kind of intimate pose that was! "You bastard!!" The fury accumulated during the entire journey erupted like a volcano. Roaring, I lunged forward, grabbed Tyler by the collar, and jerked him backward. Caught off guard, he stumbled hard. Before he could regain his footing, my fist smashed square into his face! "Argh!" Tyler cried out in agony, crashing heavily onto the floor, curling up and clutching his jaw. "Ethan!" Chloe sat frozen in shock. Only when Tyler's screams filled the room did she snap out of it. Horrified, she scrambled over to Tyler's side, frantically trying to help him up. "Tyler! Tyler, are you okay? Does it hurt?" Tyler winced, his face twisted in pain. "It hurts like hell... I think my jaw's broken..." Chloe whipped her head toward me, glaring with sheer indignation. "Ethan! How could you beat him like this?! You're out of your mind!" Watching her protect another man right in front of me, I let out a bitter, furious laugh. "I'm out of my mind? You two were making out right in front of me! Who's the crazy one here?!" "What the hell are you talking about?!" Chloe shrieked back, sounding completely righteous: "I got dust in my eye, and Tyler was just blowing it out for me! We didn't do anything inappropriate!" "I can't believe your mind is so filthy! Punching someone without even asking questions—I really misjudged you!" "Then what about the photos and videos?!" I bellowed, "Chloe, I tolerated your sick, twisted tests over and over again! But I never dreamed you'd actually cheat on me, film it, and shove it in my face!" "What, were you showing off? Rubbing it in?!" The moment I brought up the pictures, Chloe's eyes flickered, and her aggressive tone suddenly softened. She hurried to explain: "You misunderstood! Those photos were made with AI!" She shoved her phone into my hands. "Look for yourself!" I snatched it and scrolled through. Sure enough, inside an AI generation app, there were detailed text prompts instructing the engine to generate explicit bedroom scenes, along with the raw image files. The undeniable evidence that had blinded me with rage and cost me the biggest project of my career was nothing more than high-tech fabrication! "See? It's all fake!" Noticing my shifting expression, Chloe thought she had the upper hand again. Her voice shot up an octave, dripping with grievance: "Tyler only helped me because he wanted to test if you really love me! To see if you'd drop your work and rush straight home to me! It was his idea!" "He did it out of the goodness of his heart..." Hearing those words, my knuckles cracked as I clenched my fists. A crushing, suffocating sense of powerlessness seized my chest, far worse than the blind rage from before. Another test! For her pathetic, goddamn test, she ruined the biggest career opportunity of my life, trampled on my trust and dignity, and used the filthiest trick imaginable to push my limits! And to her, all of it could be brushed off with a simple "it was just a test"! Seeing me stand there in silence, Chloe seemed to assume the storm had passed. She glanced down at Tyler, who was still groaning on the floor, her eyes full of pity. Then she looked at me with an entitled frown: "Now that everything's cleared up and it was just a misunderstanding, hurry up and apologize to Tyler! Look at what you did to him!" Not a shred of remorse. Instead, she demanded I apologize to the very scumbag who fed her the sick idea and acted in her twisted play? I laughed from sheer rage. Before Chloe could react, I raised my hand and slapped her across the face with everything I had! Slap—! The sharp crack echoed violently through the living room. In our entire marriage, it was the first time I had ever laid a hand on her. "Ah!!" Chloe shrieked, staggering back a few paces and nearly tumbling over. Clutching her reddened cheek, she stared at me in absolute disbelief. "You... you hit me?" Seeing this, Tyler forced himself up, supporting Chloe while glaring at me with faux righteousness. "Ethan, you've crossed the line! She's your wife!" "Wife?" I let out a cold, venomous sneer. My eyes swept over Chloe's swelling face and Tyler's hypocritical mask. The very last shred of affection in my heart snapped cleanly in two. I said each word with crystal clarity: "Not anymore."