In my previous life, I worked myself to the bone. A servant in my own home.
My daughters-in-law would brag to outsiders about their luck, calling me "Mom" with honey-sweet smiles. I thought I had won their hearts.
I didn't realize until I was paralyzed that I had been raising wolves.
Now, staring at these six ungrateful faces, rage boiled through my veins like molten iron.
"What responsibility?" The words ripped out of me, sharp as broken glass. "I raised my three sons. They have families now. What am I to you—a bank? Did your parents refuse to let you leech off them, so you came to drain me instead?"
The daughters-in-law's expressions curdled into something ugly.
Olivia was the first to snap. "Look at what your mom is saying! Is that even human language?" She grabbed her purse. "Divorce!"
Bella followed, heels clicking against the floor. "I'm divorcing too! What the hell is this?"
Sarah puffed up like an angry hen. "I was blind to marry into this family! I'm not serving anyone!"
Ian whirled on me, face flushed. "Mom! What are you doing? We just got married, and you're tearing the family apart!"
I spread my hands, letting indifference settle across my features. "What does that have to do with me? Live your lives or don't. Your choice." I paused, letting the words sink in. "I'm no longer a member of the James family. I'm getting a divorce."
My three sons stood frozen. Red-faced. Humiliated.
"Dad, talk some sense into Mom! Calm her down!"
They threw the command over their shoulders as they scrambled after their wives, desperate to salvage their marriages.
Sebastian stood alone in the middle of the room. Lost. Frantic. His eyes pleading like a child who didn't understand why he was being punished.
"Samantha, please. What's wrong? Everything was fine." His voice cracked. "I've never hit you. Never cursed at you. Why are you doing this?"
Something ached behind my ribs.
It was true. We had lived a lifetime together with mutual respect. He genuinely couldn't understand this sudden coldness.
I met his gaze. "Fine. If we don't divorce, will you agree to cut off all ties with our three sons? Right now?"
He froze. The color drained from his face. "No, Samantha... why? They're our children."
Sebastian was a good father. He could never abandon them.
That was exactly why I had to leave.
"Because I refuse to be an unpaid nanny until I die." My voice dropped, soft but unyielding. "I don't want a miserable death, Sebastian. If you truly care for me—if you have any pity for me at all—divorce me."
He didn't understand. He shook his head again and again.
I spent the entire night talking to him. Wearing him down. I promised him that in my heart, he was the only man I would ever love. But I could not stay in this house.
Finally, heartbroken and bewildered, he agreed.
He signed the papers. Transferred all the property under his name to me as a parting gift.
On the day we received the divorce certificate, he looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. "Samantha, remember your promise. Behind closed doors, we are still husband and wife."
I nodded, clutching the certificate.
My ticket to freedom.
The moment I returned home, Ian came rushing in, practically bouncing.
"Dad! Mom!" His grin stretched ear to ear. "Bella is pregnant! You're going to have a grandson!"
He was so excited he didn't notice his father packing a suitcase in the corner. Didn't notice the stillness in the room.
"Mom, you've got work to do now. Take good care of Bella." He beamed at me. "She's pregnant, so you need to treat her like royalty."
I sat on the sofa, peeling an orange with slow, deliberate movements. I lifted my eyes and gave him a bored glance.
"I can't take care of her. I'm not a member of the James family anymore."
The smile died on his face.
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Still assuming this was a joke. Some kind of petty revenge.
Bella walked in behind him. Hearing my words, her expression soured. She placed a hand on her still-flat stomach, posturing like she was already nine months along. She approached me with the arrogance of an empress dowager inspecting a disobedient servant.
"Don't look for excuses to be lazy."
