“Just looking at her shortens your life. Living every day with such an ugly woman would drive any man crazy. You wouldn’t even dare take her out to eat. At the kindergarten, people always mistake her for the child’s grandmother.”
Stella’s eyes turned red. “Mike, are you even human?”
“Why doesn’t she dress up? Does she even have time? She wakes up early and works late every day, taking care of the child and me. Whenever she has a bit of free time, she goes out to do odd jobs to earn money. Look at her hands—do they look like the hands of a normal woman? They’re all calloused. She’s your wife and you don’t even feel sorry for her. Instead, you insult her. Where’s your conscience?”
Stella was truly angry now. She went on, “You say she doesn’t buy clothes—do you know why? Because she’s trying to save money!”
“You heartless bastard! After work, you either go out drinking or lie at home playing games. You buy cigarettes that cost four or five a pack, expensive wine worth hundreds of dollars just to ‘try,’ and you spent over ten thousand on a motorcycle just to ride it on weekends.”
“And who saved that 40 thousand dollars that Zerra asked you to withdraw today? It’s the money Zerra saved bit by bit over the years. You say she doesn’t earn money? How can you even say that with a straight face? You earn one and spend two. You’ve already wasted all of Zerra’s dowry and everything she had saved before. Mike, tell me—are you even human?”
“I’m not afraid to tell you the truth — Zerra has been putting up with not divorcing you because of me. You ask for a divorce, who do you think you are?”
Stella understood me. Her words hit deep inside me and I couldn’t stop crying.
Losing my parents when I was young made me value family more than most people. I didn’t want my child to grow up in a single-parent home and I couldn’t bear to leave Stella behind, so I kept enduring.
In fact, my marriage to Mike had been dead for a long time. He only stayed to make the family look whole and to give the child a father.
After hearing what Stella said, an idea formed in my mind.
Mike listened and stayed cold. “You say I have no heart, do you? She’s like this and you’re also to blame. If you care so much about her, why didn’t you die earlier? You’re a sick burden; whoever gets stuck with you is unlucky.”
“Enough.” I shouted angrily. “Stella, don’t cry. I’ll divorce him.”
I looked at Mike. “Mike, give me back that 40 thousand right now. Even if half of the divorce money is mine, the house and car must be split equally. I also want half of the demolition money from the old house.”
“Split the property?” Mike glanced at me. “Fine, sue me then. There’s a one-month cooling-off period. Let’s see who can hold out. And if you try to fight me for the money, I will fight for custody of the child.”
I looked at Mike calmly. “I’m giving you a chance to split the property now. If you want to wait for my divorce lawsuit, I will give the court proof of your cheating. Then you’ll have to leave with nothing.”
Mike’s face darkened. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“You think I don’t know you cheated?” My face got much colder. “I have the records of every time you booked a room. That bitch even sent me a video of you two sleeping around to taunt me. If my sister hadn’t been sick, I wouldn’t have wasted time on someone so heartless. I would have left long ago. Now go change the divorce papers so the property is split. Go get that 40 thousand back from that bitch. If you stall, I will make sure you walk away with nothing.”
“Zerra, you finally stopped pretending and started fighting for money, huh? After I heard about the demolition, I was already watching out for this. I’ve already put the old house in Melly’s name.”
