Abandoned for the Maid, I Set My Husband FreeChapter 1
During dinner, my husband suddenly said, “Don’t you think our maid is really pitiful?”
I looked up, raising an eyebrow. “What about her?”
He frowned slightly. “Haven’t you noticed? She’s a single mother with five sons, her father’s a gambler, and her mother is sick with cancer.”
I glanced at Kristen Pattinson, dressed in her maid uniform and black stockings, as she bent over to mop the floor, her curves exposed in the dim light.
Before I could speak, he cleared his throat, his tone serious.
“I want to give her a raise, one hundred thousand a month.”
“A three-month year-end bonus, four days off after every three worked, all six insurances and a fund, and comprehensive health and critical illness coverage for her entire family.”
He finished, looking at me with an intensity that left no room for argument.
“This way, she can care for her family and work for us without worry.”
I set down my spoon and fork, slowly wiped my mouth, and said, “Just fire her. Otherwise, people might think you’re keeping a mistress, don’t you think?”
——
“I don’t think so!” he snapped, agitation flashing in his eyes.
“Jennifer, why are you being so sarcastic?”
“As a woman yourself, can’t you feel for Kristen?”
I laughed softly as I looked at George Radcliffe.
“You’re the director at my brother’s hospital, overseeing thousands of people. How much is your salary? Is it better than hers?
He faltered, caught off guard, but quickly steadied himself.
“I’m talking about the basic compassion we should have as human beings. Don’t you have even a shred of it?”
I shook my head decisively. “I’m not a saint.”
As the future heir of the Hathaway family, mercy was the last thing I needed.
“Either fire her, or we divorce. Your choice.
I left the words hanging in the air. He should understand that I was letting him face the consequences himself. If I acted, he would be left with nothing.
But then he suddenly slammed the table.
“Just because I want to give Kristen a raise, you want a divorce?”
“Is it because I sponsored your medical school, then placed you in my brother’s hospital, that you believe you’re doomed to live beneath me forever?”
“As your husband, do I not even have the right to decide the maid’s salary?”
He had always been calm, composed, untouchable. Even when a dangerous patient pressed a knife to his back, he never wavered.