It was deep into the night, almost 1 am at the moment. The whole surrounding community of houses was covered in darkness other than the usual noises of a few animals. Edward carefully held a bunch of grocery bags with both his arms. Other than the occasional sporadic barks of some neighborhood dogs, the night was mostly silent. His heart was peaceful, just as his surroundings.

With slow, meaningful steps, Edward walked his street until, eventually, he stood in front of his house. He carefully placed the bags of groceries he was carrying on the pavement in front of his home and raised his head towards the first floor. His eyes moved towards his bedroom window on the first floor, which had their pink curtain closed together, covering the window. Yet, a few rays of light escaped outside.

Edward’s face twitched, and he ground his teeth. A cold smile appeared on his face.

Even after he was this late, Edward had spent some time to get some groceries that only went to show his care and worry regardless of how tired he was.

**************************

Edward clearly remembered last night. While he was packing his backpack and tent, he had carelessly told his wife that he was going out camping in the wilderness with a few of his friends. When his wife had heard it, she had flashed a small smile for the briefest moment. It was only due to luck that he noticed a slight change in her demeanor.

Their marriage wasn’t that long, and it was ages since she barely smiled at him, and now Edward saw a flash of a smile on her face.

The next day, Edward took his bag and took a ride to the forest out of the suburbs. He spent his day wandering amongst the trees and bushes; occasionally, he would find some herbs or mushroom to gather and eat. He used his old machete to cut his way clear in the forest.

By midday, Edward had ventured quite deep into the forest at a fast pace only because he was used to spending time in the wilderness. He was a bit breathless, but he was at peace. He found a dirt ground to sit and silently started to chew on whatever he had gathered by that time, just enjoying his surroundings and being one with nature.

‘The forest is so lonely; one can easily get lost in here. I wonder if there are any dead bodies buried here?’ The thought flashed through his mind sending a shiver down his spine, and yet he sneered at the idea.

During this time, Edward accidentally discovered a mountain stream. In this late autumn season, the colorful trees in the mountains and valleys were at full bloom. A stream was a perfect place for camping.

If Edward didn't have work to do, he really would have stayed in the forest for a few days.

Backpack hiking was Edward’s greatest hobby besides women. His mind wandered towards the days of his single life, two years ago. Those moments were the happiest time of his life where he had no restrictions and could go into the wild for as long as he wanted.

After a leisurely tempering until the afternoon, he gathered up his supplies and tent while preparing to head back home. He had to return to civilization, unfortunately.

By the time it was 10 pm in the night, he had returned to the city. Instead of heading straight home, he bought some groceries he knew would be enjoyed and ate dinner at a small roadside stall. Edward spent his sweat time enjoying his dinner with two bottles of beer and some meat on his plate. The barbecue tasted average and not as good as when he was camping and making his food.

He kept sipping his beer slowly while keeping his eyes half-open.

‘Who am I even kidding? I canceled the plan with my friends and went alone in the wilderness to be alone with myself and gather my thoughts. In the end, it was nothing but a sorry excuse to distract me.’

Judging by the signs he had observed recently and the rumors he had heard, Edward knew something wrong was happening. Most likely, it would happen again tonight.

Edward returned to his home after the clock hit 1:30 am. After the grocery bags were laid, he tucked the machete made of 35 cm long sharp steel saw blade in his back pocket and entered his home. His steps silent thief as he slowly opened his front door and made his way upstairs. He held his breath moved as silently as he could, afraid others might hear even his rapidly beating heart.

Soon he was in front of the door that leads to his bedroom. He could light from under the door. His hand gingerly reached for the doorknob but stopped before he could twist it.

‘What if the door is locked? What do I do then?’

Edward steeled his resolved and twisted his wrist. The door was fortunately unlocked.

He could clearly hear the sounds of something slapping and someone moaning. His hand that held the doorknob trembled slightly as he recognized who was moaning. He practically forced himself and slowly opened the door just enough to peek inside. The sight that greeted him made his blood boil.

For a man, nothing was more shameful than what he was watching!

For a man, nothing was more embarrassing than getting cucked.

Edward’s heart was filled with an indescribable rage and anger! Murderous intent rose in his heart, although he repeatedly told himself to calm down at the night market; still, at the moment, he could not hold himself back.

Edward threw open the bedroom door and rushed inside.

Before he realized it, he had drawn out his old machete as he roared in pure rage towards the two people inside his bedroom. His roar guttural in nature, held a myriad of emotions.

“F*cking woman, I see that you’ve made this place very lively in my absence. I come home to see you being a slut!”

Almost at the same time, a man screamed in surprise while the other naked body looked at him with horror.

Seeing that Edward was hand holding a machete, his wife rushed over towards him. In half fear and half panic, she held his arm. Meanwhile, the unknown naked man without even caring about what was going on quickly picked up his thrown clothes.

At this time, his wife screamed: "Edward! Don’t make a mistake just because I made a mistake; it is my fault! You must never take a life!" Then she turned her head and shouted to the adulterer: "Don't hurry to jump off the window; we are on the first floor!"

Seeing no signs from Edward that might indicate him to stop, both of them felt terrified. The fear made the naked man’s mouth garnish with ambiguity: “You... you... you don’t want to mess around with me!” And then holding his clothes with his left hand, his right hand yanked open the window, and he jumped down without thinking ahead.

A screaming pig-like scream broke through the night sky. Hearing the cry, a few dozen neighboring lights lit up in the dark night. Edward squinted downward, looking at the screaming adulterer, while his heart was filled with an inexplicable pleasure.

**************************

A week later, Edward once again shouldered a backpack and took a full set of wild survival equipment. He walked down the bus, bounded towards the outskirts of the city. Of course, this time, it was not the same as last time where he went in the wild to ready himself to finally face his cheating wife.

He had already been disheartened about his marriage, but he never thought of ending it in such a bloody way. He now only wanted to find a quiet place, away from the city that made him feel heartbroken.

‘If only I could go back in time and undo this all, how good it would be.’

His heart was twisting in pain. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. His wife used to be his best friend for most of his life. It was only two years ago when they finally decided to start dating. It was the perfect ‘Romantic movie’ couple, best friends of childhood turned lovers, and yet fate was cruel to him.

He walked a dozen meters away from the bus stop and took out a cigarette. Just as he was about to smoke, an off-road vehicle stopped near him.

Three people jumped out from the car, all of them with an indifferent look while blocking his way.

Then another person slowly exited the car.

The fourth person was the adulterer who slept with his wife!

"You want to run away from me? Our old account is not finished yet. I not only broke my arm, but my body had to undergo so many stitches. You were lucky last time I was in a panic!”

Billy, the adulterer, stood with the support of the car door using his right hand while his left arm was wrapped in gauze. The gauze was hung around his neck.

When Edward looked at him, he immediately was angered deep in his heart, and the evil inside of him came to the surface. His clouded mind was cleared in an instant. He threw his backpack to the ground and took the machete from the inside. He bit his teeth and said:

"You don't have to talk nonsense! Since you want to die today, then I will fulfill your wish!"

Edwards's mind was filled with pure mindless rage, not even caring about the consequences of his actions.

The other three people immediately approached him, trying to surround him. This road ran along the foothills, and the cliffs were tens of meters deep on one side.

But Billy waved his hand, stopped them, and walked alone.

"Since words have been spoken, then I will tell you the truth. Remember two years ago when I came to your factory and were responsible for getting me behind bars? Do you know what it is like to stay in prison for two years?"

Billy’s eyes glimpsed and then shouted: “Two years! Two years! No beer! No women! All this is thanks to you!”

Edward's blood boiled; this bastard wanted vengeance! Acting sinister and disgusting. Two years ago, this bastard full of gambling debts brought a few drawings to his factory. As a mechanical engineer, he recognized it as a drawing of a pistol at a glance and refused him. And in a few days, he was reported and caught by the police, and then the court sentenced him to two years for illegally making guns. It seems this Billy slept with his wife to get back at him.

‘Good thing I also planned my arrival that night last week ago when I caught my wife red-handed. That way, Billy’s escape out the window was harrowing.’

It seems that there was no escape from today's battle. Edward glanced at the enemy in front of him and took a deep breath.

If life was nothing but a sum of choices, then today, he had no opportunity. If he didn’t cut the man down today, Billy would only make his life more difficult.

At this time, Billy laughed and laughed.

“Man, I gotta say your wife was perfect last night! I can’t have enough of her. Did you even slept with her, or are you so small down there? She was screaming my name all night.”

Edward couldn't stand it anymore, he rushed over and slashed! Billy hurriedly moved sideways, the machete was entangled in his bandages, and the two men were mixed together. The other three were about to separate them, but Edward was full of murderous intent, and his heart was swaying. Edward applied all his force to push Billy back, not even knowing he was pushing Billy towards the direction of the cliff.

A few more pushes from Edward, and they reached the cliff while still entangled with each other. Soon Billy lost his footing, and then both of them just rolled down the cliff together.