At the tenth matriarch test, Hector Rivas chose the simple white T-shirt his adopted younger sister had casually trimmed.
Mrs. Rivas looked at the high-end custom dress I had spent three months making and told me to leave.
I went home feeling bitter. Grandma gently asked, “Veena Holloway, did Hector choose you this time?”
I took her aged hand and saw the white hairs that had appeared at some unnoticed moment.
So I could become Hector’s rightful wife, I had not accompanied Grandma to the reunion dinner for seven consecutive years and had gone to the Rivas family to take part in this matriarch’s test.
At that time, Hector had promised Grandma that he would love only me and marry no one else in this life.
All the high-society women in Montana resented that I, an orphan, had gained the favor of the Rivas family’s young master.
However, after Hector’s adopted younger sister came back to the Rivas family following her divorce and decided to join this test, he repeatedly used the reason of preserving Elliana Trevino’s image and selected her.
Tonight marked the tenth time, and by the Rivas family’s rules, Elliana had already become the future lady of the Rivas family.
I did not want to lose the last years with Grandma over a vow that would never come true.
This time, I decided not to give him any more chances. When he made a grand public announcement of his engagement to his adopted younger sister, I walked away from him completely.
Only when he realized I had not appeared at the engagement did he publicly call off the wedding, lose control, and turn red-eyed.
1
When she saw me quiet, Grandma drew me into her arms, gently patting my back as she used to when I was young.
“Veena, don’t feel sad. It is all right if you don’t marry.”
I, who had been acting strong, instantly burst into tears.
Feeling embarrassed, I wiped my tears and gave the dress I had made in my spare time while working on clothes for the Rivas family a few days earlier to Grandma.
Thinking about it, it felt absurd, all for the sake of passing the Rivas family’s matriarch test.
For seven years, I moved among well-known mentors, learning fine tailoring, jewelry design, and noble etiquette.
But I had never sewn any clothes for Grandma or bought her even one piece of jewelry.
Standing before the dim mirror, Grandma gently pulled at the stiff collar.
My heart ached as if it were splitting open, and I gritted my teeth.
Over those seven years, I remembered that Hector disliked long cuffs and that Grandma Denise never wore a round-collar dress.
I could recite, in reverse, the clothing taboos about collars for more than twenty members of the Rivas family, yet I did not remember that Grandma had a scar on her neck from years of hard work, making high collars unsuitable for her.
But she accepted the gift and smiled so happily, more than all the praise I had ever received from the Rivas family.
My nose felt strange, and at that moment, Hector called.
"Send a lady’s underwear to my villa on the east side of the city, lace is better."
"This is only for test content, nothing more."
I mockingly smile to myself.
Last week, at midnight, Hector told me to go to the west side of the city to line up and buy Hiraya’s limited sweet soup, saying old Mrs. Rivas wanted to eat.
I ran through the entire street in the snow, guarding that bowl of sweet soup on the way back, my hands numb from the cold.
But when I handed it to him, he gave the sweet soup to the guard dog.
When he noticed I was upset, he kissed the corner of my mouth again.
He said I had done well, that this was just a test.
And the year before last, at a banquet, Hector told me to show my talent to my partner.
He said that as a wife, I had to uphold my husband’s image.
So I stayed up all night to make a fishtail dress covered in sequins.
I was also worried my singing was not moving enough, so I practiced for half a month until my voice became strained.
After finishing one song, I felt satisfied, my face filled with happiness.
The partner lifted his glass and laughed. “A voice like that, if you worked as a top hostess in a KTV, you’d make a lot in one night, wouldn’t you?”
A round of knowing laughter echoed around the table.
Hector joined in, clinking glasses, and allowed me to serve wine to the others.
After I returned, I cried so much I could not breathe and asked Hector Rivas how he treated me.
He said I was too soft-hearted, that the Rivas family’s lady should not behave this way.
Grandma also heard what Hector said, her eyes turning red.
After the call was over, she handed me the passbook she had placed in the biscuit box.
“Veena, give the treatment money back to him.”
“Grandma truly does not want you to endure this kind of hurt. Seeing you humble yourself to please that family pains my heart!”
My nails dug into my palm, my voice dry.
“But if we return the money, Grandpa cannot have surgery.”
“We will lose a family member.”
Grandma’s eyes turned red as she looked at the already faded wedding photo in the biscuit box and made up her mind.
“Your happiness, to Grandpa and Grandma, is more important than anything.”
I held back my tears and obediently went to the east side of the city.
