For so many years, I had never received birthday gifts from my husband, Donald Hernandez, but on the day, I finally received one, it just so happened I saw what his assistant had posted on her Instagram Feed. [A worn-out relic is a perfect match for a second-hand match. As for me, naturally, I deserve to have only the best one!
Her post was accompanied by a photo of an exquisite luxurious jade necklace.
Then I opened my birthday gift. Inside of it, I only found a worn-out diamond necklace.
As I glanced back and forth between the assistant's post and the secondhand necklace in my hand, it suddenly struck me that the thing that I cherish beyond measure was nothing more than a second-rate trash to someone else. On top of that, the man I had loved for more than ten years thought that all I deserved to get was a cheap used trinket.
Donald saw me as the ever-loyal, unchanging lapdog, who would always be at his beck and call.
However, he was more than welcome to find someone else to be his dog. I was done playing that part.
——
Later that night, the slightly tipsy Donald came home. He was supported by Olivia Perez, his assistant. When Olivia saw me, she ordered me like she was the hostess, "Hurry up and make some hangover soup for Mr. Hernandez! Otherwise, he will feel horrible later on."
I stayed in my place and did not do anything except look at them coldly.
Under my cold gaze, Donald felt uneasy so he shouted at me, "Why are you still standing there? I have been working so hard for this family's sake. I even have to drink and socialize and this is how you treat me when I get home? Even my assistant knows better. Do you want to stay married to me or not?"
In the past, I would have rushed to make the hangover soup, afraid even a slight delay would cause him discomfort. However, now? I did not care. I slammed the divorce papers right in his face.
"No! I don't want to do this anymore. You can divorce me. If your little assistant is so considerate, she can look after you for twenty-four seven."
Donald was stunned. After a while, he bent down to pick up the divorce papers from the floor. The two of them, who had been practically glued to each other since they entered, finally pulled apart.
"What’s with this nonsense again? Can't you stop being so paranoid? It was just a working event. I was just socializing. What kind of man would put up with this?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration as he said that.
"What kind of man wants to come home after working so hard outside all day only to be nagged by his old wife with a face smeared with kitchen grease?" he sneered.
Olivia, pretended to be concerned, then said, "How can you act like this? Mr. Hernandez just gave you a birthday gift yesterday but you're causing a scene today."
She held her chest out, flaunting the jade necklace around her neck, as if she was scared I would miss the opportunity to see it. She then mocked me, "Don’t take your blessings for granted. You might say that you don't want a man like Mr. Hernandez, but do you have any idea how many women would line up for a man like Mr. Hernandez?"
Faced with her provocation, I suddenly found it all meaningless.
"Well, why don't you keep him then?" I shot back. "So the two of you don't have to sneak around under the disguise of working together. It's nauseating."
I must have struck a nerve because both of their expressions flickered.
Donald glared at me, there was pure disdain in his eyes. "I'm an honest man, don't you slander me for the things I don't do. Do you think everyone like you who doing nothing but making the assumption that I'm having an affair? Well, I have nothing to hide. Olivia just closed a huge deal for the company and I bought her a necklace as a thank-you gift. What’s wrong with that?"
He continued, "At least she cares about your feelings enough to give you her favorite necklace. Yet, what do you do? Just complain and make a scene. I don't have time for your nonsense, I'm busy running a business here."
His disdainful gaze swept over me. "All you do is compare yourself to others. Look at you! You look worn out and old. How dare you compare yourself to someone like her?"
A chill swept over me. It was as if he had forgotten everything, I had done for him.
In the early days of his company, I was the one pulling late-night strings, making connections and landing deals. I even lost a child while we both worked tirelessly to get the business off the ground. At the time, he held me as tears streamed down his face, saying, "Isabela, I’m sorry. I’ll work hard so you can enjoy life and have everything you deserve, making you the person everyone is envious of the most. We’ll have another child and you’ll be the happiest, most wonderful mother. I’ll be the best father."
Then, he worked even harder. He often went home after dark, tired to the bone.
Seeing him like that, I felt sorry for him and then decided to retreat into the background by managing the household and taking care of everything in his life for him.
I always had hangover soup ready, making sure he had the perfect clothes and preparing the best gifts for his business dinners. I did everything for our family. My world revolved around Hernandez.
He used to proudly tell others that I was his perfect wife. Now, everything I had done had become the very reasons he despised me. He called me an outdated, worthless woman.
Without sparing me another glance, he left with Olivia.
"I've worked hard all day. I’m too exhausted to waste my time arguing with you when I get home. Think about what you really want."
The divorce papers lay abandoned on the floor and I was left alone in the empty villa. I crumpled to the ground, unable to stop the silent tears from pouring down my face.
I could never become the happiest mother and Donald would never be the good father he once promised to be.
Chapter 2Olivia posted an update on her Instagram Feed, "Finally, I'm able to see Mr. Hernandez's sleeping face out in the open."
It was complemented with a photo of Donald sleeping while lying on the bed. His messy hair and high nose bridge were catching the light.
I immediately liked the post and left a comment, "There is no need to rush showing off. Wait until our divorce, then you can flaunt him all you want.”
Less than a minute later, the post vanished.
Olivia sent me a private message. However, in her apology, there was a thinly veiled smugness, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
"Don't you know that women need to be a bit more gracious? If you can’t win back a man’s heart, at least don’t make him hate you.”
"I'll tell you what … seeing you're so pitiful, how about I let him come home to you tomorrow morning? You two barely meet each other once a week. You'd better make the most of it tomorrow."
I facepalmed and saved our chat screenshots without a hint of emotion. If we ended up in court, these would serve as evidence of Donald’s affair.
After I tossed Olivia's necklace into the trash, I started to contact divorce lawyers to discuss property division in a calm manner.
The lawyer asked, “Mrs. Hernandez, are you sure about this? Do you really want to file for divorce?”
"A husband and wife are bound by love for life. It’s always best to settle amicably. Once it goes to court, there’s no turning back," he advised.
I hesitated because I knew that divorce was not as simple as signing a paper. Even if I no longer wanted to stay with Donald, I still did not want to leave and burn the bridges.
The next morning, as expected, Donald came home. I did not ask him where he had been the night before and he did not seem too keen on explaining.
He quietly took a bowl, filled it with porridge, grabbed one of the meat sandwiches that was brimmed with filling from the table and started eating his breakfast.
He acted as if the last night's argument had never happened. He even casually remarked, “No matter where I eat, nothing tastes quite right. My wife’s home cooking is always the best.”
I had spent hours studying recipes and practicing dishes, all in the hope of getting him to eat just a little bit more. Yet in the end, all I ever got from him was a comment about how I smelled like kitchen grease.
I did not say anything.
When he noticed the necklace in the trash, he looked irritated.
I did not know what was going on inside his head but for some reason, he managed to hold back his temper and only mocked, “Are you still mad?”
“Well, I got kicked out of my own house last night and I’m not even mad. What’s your excuse?” he asked.
I didn’t bother to correct him. It did not matter whether he had left on his own or because I had pushed him out the door to spend the night at his assistant’s house.
I simply said, “I’m not mad.”
He scoffed. “You threw away her gift and you’re still saying you’re not mad?”
He shamelessly took the last meat sandwich. He did not even care that the breakfast that I prepared was only meant for one person.
“Throw it away if you want. It’s not like it’s worth anything," he sneered.
So, he knew that it was a cheap trinket.
Unfazed, he instructed me, “Even if you didn’t like the gift, you should at least have some manners. Olivia went out of her way to help me yesterday and she’s heard you’re quite the cook. She really looks forward to tasting them. How about you make a batch of sandwiches for me to bring to the office for her?”
I put down my spoon. “Do it yourself if you want it. I’m not making anything.”
He frowned. “She’s willing to let it go and you’re still hung up on it? It’s just a batch of sandwiches. It’s not a big deal to make them. You’re home all day with nothing to do, while she’s feeling hungry early in the morning.”
I replied coldly, “If she’s hungry, that’s not my problem. I’m not her mother.”
"Besides, if you have time to talk some nonsense, you'd have time to sign the agreement that I gave you last night." Then I handed him the divorce papers that I got from the living room.
Without even looking at them, Donald tore them up.
“Stop throwing this in my face! My patience with you has limits. Why can’t you just get along with my assistant?”
“Olivia is my assistant. It’s normal for her to be close to me. Besides, she helps a lot with work. You could learn a thing or two from her and make my life a little easier!”
He grabbed his coat from the sofa. “I can see that you’re not thinking clearly. I’m not discussing this with you right now. Figure it out when you’ve come to your senses.”
He left without a second thought.
That was because in his eyes, whether I did something or not, I was always in the wrong. I was nothing but a jobless sullen woman to him.
I knew I was not worse than Olivia but Donald refused and could not see that.
He had long forgotten all the struggles that we had faced together to build everything.
Chapter 3Around noon, Donald suddenly sent me a message, "I’m bringing some friends home for dinner tonight. So, you'd better cook something nice.”
I hesitated for a moment. I did not want to get more entangled with him, but I also did not want to cause any trouble in front of his friends. So, I prepared the dinner that he asked for.
While I was still busy in the kitchen, making the soup I heard voices of unfamiliar men and women coming from the entrance.
I rushed over to check only to see Olivia enter my house with a group of strangers.
Seeing me wearing an apron, one of the women asked, "Olivia, is this your housekeeper? She is so young!"
Another person asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Hey, where are the shoe covers? Hurry up and get them. These gifts are heavy. Come and bring them inside.”
"Really lack of manner!"
I was about to ask them to leave, but Olivia quickly intervened. “Isabela, we’re expecting guests today. Mr. Hernandez must have mentioned it to you, right? So, hurry up and bring these things inside, otherwise, if Mr. Hernandez knows about this, he might get upset."
I was not sure if these few people were the friends that Donald had met recently, so I held back my temper and took their gifts inside.
I vaguely heard someone behind me say, “Olivia, your housekeeper has a high temper. Anyone would think she’s the lady of the house.”
Olivia’s face was lit up with smugness as she raised her voice, “Don’t say that! What if she refuses to cook again?”
When I returned to the kitchen, Olivia followed me in, "Isabela, I brought some friends over to your house today. I hope you don't mind, do you?"
I looked at the smug smile on Olivia's and everything clicked in my mind.
"So, they are your friends, huh?" I asked.
Olivia casually flicked her hair. "Yes. Mr. Hernandez said that I had been wronged last night, so he wanted to bring you to apologize to me."
"He even bought me breakfast this morning and he asked me out for dinner. However, I had already made plans with my friends. How could I stand them up? So, Mr. Hernandez proposed to bring my friends with me here to taste your cooking skills as a way for you to apologize to me."
Seeing her triumphant expression, my grip on the soup ladle tightened.
After getting her fill of my pained expression, Olivia asked, “Where’s the fruit? Oh, you’ve already prepared it? Then I’ll go ahead and serve it.”
As she walked past, she whispered into my ear, “Thank you for the hard work, old woman.”
The moment she left, I slammed the ladle to the floor and pulled out my phone to call Donald.
Just as I dialed his number he walked in from the front door.
He ended the call before it even rang, asking, “You’re all here already? Didn’t you say you'd come half an hour later?”
Olivia smiled sweetly. “As guests, we shouldn’t arrive late, so we came a bit early.”
Donald responded with a gentle smile and said, "Birds of a feather flock together. Your friends are just like you. They are considerate and thoughtful."
One of them greeted him, “You must be Mr. Hernandez, right? Olivia, you’re so lucky!”
He did not deny it and, after exchanging a few pleasantries with them, he joined me in the kitchen.
Calmly, he picked up the ladle I had thrown to the floor. “Why are you so careless? There are guests at home, don’t embarrass yourself.”
Through gritted teeth, I retorted, "If I want to embarrass myself, it would have happened a long time ago. Why do I have to wait until tonight? What are you doing here in the kitchen? Are you watching me, the housekeeper, to cook? Shouldn't you as the man of the house be entertaining guests with the lady of the house?"
His brow furrowed. “What nonsense are you spouting? Olivia and I are innocent!”
“Ha!” I sneered.
"You're both so innocent enough to be sharing the same bed? Do you think I am an idiot?"
He turned on his heel to leave. “I don’t want to argue with you now. You’d better behave and treat our guests well tonight.”
After I finished cooking, Donald asked me to join them at the table.
Everyone looked surprised and Olivia’s expression changed instantly. She quickly added, “Isabel, you’ve been busy all afternoon. Please, join us for dinner.”
She was calm and natural, playing the part of a gracious hostess, inviting the grumpy housekeeper to sit down for a meal.
Donald seemed to know that I was just about to make a sarcastic remark because he quickly intervened, “Yes, you’ve really gone out of your way today. These are Olivia's friends, so they’re my friends now too. From now on, let’s all get to know each other.”
Olivia raised her glass, smiling brightly at me. “I’m grateful to Mr. Hernandez for inviting me to his home and I also want to thank Isabel for preparing this lovely dinner.”
"The first toast is for you, Isabela. I hope you’ll do me the honor.”
From the moment she walked in, she’d been dripping with hostility and her words carried a double meaning.
Without looking up, I said, “No need. I don’t drink.”
Donald’s expression instantly darkened at my refusal.