“Is this because of today? Are you still mad? I already told you, Lindsay wasn’t feeling well. I was just helping her. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”
Mindy glared at me, too. “You’re overreacting! Burning the photos just because of that? Those were my favorite pictures!”
Of course, they were.
I had carefully chosen every location and angle for those photos.
I looked at the father and daughter in front of me.
They really were alike.
Marvin had fallen for someone else, and Mindy had adopted a new mother.
“Ariadne, what’s with the suitcases?”
Marvin’s eyes fell on the luggage by the door.
He scanned the house, now stripped bare, the trash can overflowing with discarded belongings.
His anger flared, and he grabbed my arm. “How far are you planning to take this?”
I smiled bitterly.
He thought throwing out these things and packing up was me being petty.
Of course, he did. I had loved him so much, enough to sever ties with my own family to be with him.
That love had emboldened him.
It gave him the audacity to betray me so brazenly.
I had let him get away with too much.
I shook off his hand, my voice cold, “I’m leaving you. I want a divorce.”
“Over something this small?”
I thought, “Is this not enough?”
A man kissing someone else in front of his wife wasn’t small to me. It was nauseating.
I nodded. “Yes, over this.”
Marvin laughed mockingly. “A divorce? Who’s going to want you after that? Don’t forget, you cut ties with your family for me. Do you think anyone else will take care of you like I have?”
I stared at him, stunned.
The sacrifices I had made for him were now twisted into scornful taunts.
I thought, “Dose he really think I had no worth beyond him?”
The thought made me tremble with rage. I couldn’t hold back.
I raised my hand and slapped him hard.
“You disgust me, Marvin. Divorce it is. Take Mindy too. I don’t want either of you!”
Marvin froze, his jaw clenched. He stared at me, furious. “Fine, Ariadne. As your wish! Don’t come crawling back later. Once it’s over, it’s over!”
Ignoring his threats, I grabbed my suitcase and walked out the door without looking back.
03
This wasn’t the first time we had fought over Lindsay.
I thought back to the first time I met her.
The company had just been established, and she came in for an interview.
She had no work experience at all.
Considering the company’s circumstances, I hesitated, but in the end, I decided to keep her out of pity and made her an intern.
On her very first day, she arrived late and skipped work. She even played games during office hours.
When a senior colleague asked for her help, she snapped back at them, and the matter escalated to me.
Marvin was on a business trip at the time, so I made the decision and decided to fire her.
But Marvin personally called me and asked me to let her stay.
“She’s just a young woman trying to get by,” he said. “Her husband abandoned her, and she has nowhere to go. She’s struggling. If she’s not capable now, we can train her.”
I found it strange.
Marvin had always been decisive at work and had zero tolerance for incompetence.
But what he said made sense.
Moved by his words, I let her stay. Thankfully, she didn’t cross any more lines after that.
I thought that was the end of it.
The day Marvin returned from his trip, he told me he had a dinner meeting to attend.
We had agreed that no matter what, he’d be home by half–past ten.
At eleven, he still wasn’t back.
Worried something had happened, I drove to the office to find him.
Just as I arrived, I saw a few employees leaving.
“Wasn’t that Mr. Greville?” one of them said. “He bought all that stuff for an assistant?”
“Assistant? You don’t know? That Lindsay is his first love. They were together a long time ago, but she left him because he was too poor.”
“But Mr. Greville is married. Why is he still treating his ex so well?”
“Shh… don’t get involved in the boss’s private life.”
I stood there, shaking, unable to believe what I’d heard.
When I got into the elevator, my mind went blank.
I realized the real reason he kept Lindsay was because she was his first love.
I knew he still had feelings for her.
Furious and heartbroken, I stormed into Marvin’s office.
The sight of him and Lindsay laughing together, sharing the snacks he’d brought back from his trip, made my blood boil.
That night, we had a huge fight at the office. He told Lindsay to leave, afraid I might hurt her.
I was so angry I couldn’t breathe.
I demanded an explanation.
He accused me of overreacting.
“We were just eating, nothing more. I was just being considerate because she was working late.”
I didn’t buy that excuse. The company had plenty of employees, yet he only cared about her.
The implication was obvious.
I slapped him hard across the face and stormed out.
We didn’t speak for three days.
Eventually, Marvin gave in. He brought me 999 roses and the designer bag I’d been eyeing.
15 PM d
“She and I broke up ages ago,” he said. “We’re just old classmates. And you know she’s married. She only came back because she had a fight with her
husband.”
He even showed me Lindsay’s wedding photos to prove his point.
Marvin held me and said, “My wife is so good; how could I possibly look at others?”
I believed him. And I fell for it.
Now, I knew he’d used my love to deceive me.
Lindsay had been married, yes, but she was divorced.
The child she was carrying belonged to her ex–husband.
After leaving the house, I immediately called my mother.
She picked up quickly.
“Ariadne, is that you?”
Hearing her voice made all my pent–up emotions pour out.
“Mom, I miss you so much.”
I regretted everything: falling for Marvin, marrying him, defying my mother for him.
My mother comforted me and told me to wait.
In less than an hour, she arrived.
The moment she got out of the car, she pulled me into a tight hug and started crying.
We went home together.
The dining table was covered in my favorite dishes.
My mom kept piling food onto my plate.
Tears stung my eyes.
In the early days of our marriage, Marvin and I had struggled. During the startup phase, we had less than five hundred dollars between us. We ate canned food every day, wore old clothes, and lived in a damp basement apartment crawling with rats.
I thought about giving up many times.
But seeing Marvin working so hard, I held on.
Later, as the business succeeded, our lives improved. But Marvin started spending less and less time at home.
Most of the time, it was just Mindy and me at the dinner table.
That didn’t bother me.
I understood his work was demanding.
But now I knew he wasn’t working. He was spending time with someone else.
I still couldn’t fathom how the man who once cared for me so deeply had become like this.
I told my mom everything.
She was furious.
“I told you not to marry him,” she said. “I could see from the start he wasn’t trustworthy. But you wouldn’t listen, and there was nothing I could do. Still,
it’s good you’ve come to your senses now. What about Mindy? She’s your child, but she’s taken his side. What are you going to do?”
At the mention of my daughter, my heart grew colder.
Carrying her had been a nightmare.
For nine months, I endured relentless pain. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even get out of bed without help.
Every movement felt like my bones were breaking.
My hair fell out in clumps.
Marvin had been so distressed that he suggested I terminate the pregnancy
But I insisted on keeping her. After all, she was our first child.
When she was finally born, I passed out from anemia and was unconscious for three days.
When I woke up, I was so weak I couldn’t speak.
Marvin had held her, crying, and said, “Your mom went through so much to bring you into this world. You have to be good to her, okay?”
I didn’t know if she understood.
She grew up obedient and kind.
However, Lindsay came along, and everything changed.
I had wondered why Mindy became so attached to Lindsay.
It dawned on me that Marvin must have spent time with them both when I wasn’t around.
I set rules: no candy, no excessive spending.
2:15 PM
But Lindsay spoiled her, telling her I was saving money for a second child and neglecting her.
Gradually, Mindy began to resent me.
Now, she openly humiliated me with Lindsay.
At this point, she was beyond saving.
If Mindy wanted Lindsay as her mom, so be it.
My mother didn’t interfere with my decision.
