My own wife, my own mother, both of them forever loving another man.
Only now did I finally understand: love or blood, I didn't want either of them anymore.
"Freda, let's end it."
Freda's grip on Sid's arm tightened, and for a moment she froze.
Sid, for his part, let a flash of triumph cross his face, quickly hidden before anyone could catch it.
"Duane, why are you suddenly saying this?"
"Is it just because I won't help you now that you're—"
"No."
I cut her off.
"Because the child in your belly isn't mine."
"Better I step aside and let the two of you have each other than have the three of us tangled up like this."
With that I turned and walked out without looking back.
Her furious screaming followed me. I let myself not hear it.
Out of the house, I took a deep breath.
Only then did I realize how good the air was out here, no suffocation, no misery.
I checked into a hotel nearby for the night.
When I came out of the shower, I saw more than thirty missed calls on my phone.
Every one of them from Freda. I cleared them like junk.
Just as I was about to rest, Sid called.
The second I picked up, that swaggering tone of his came out with nothing held back.
"Duane, you're pretty pissed right now, aren't you?"
"Your woman still isn't over me, and your mother still treats me like a priceless treasure."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really are pathetic, you know that? I've been beating you down since we were kids, and all I have to do is put on a little wounded act in front of them, and they choose me without a second thought."
"Say I'm heartless if you want, but really, those two are lower than each other."
"Your mother loved my father, so she drove my mother to die with a grudge in her heart. I swore to myself back then that I'd destroy your happiness. But I never expected Freda to come throw herself right at me. Maybe she just can't forget how I had her three years ago. Seems she's still savoring it."
The veins stood out on the hand gripping the phone, a fire burning in my chest.
His goal, I'd known it all along.
But those two just kept courting their own ruin, and no matter what, they wouldn't believe a word I said.
After a stretch of wrestling with myself, I let out a sigh.
"You came all this way to tell me things that don't matter. That woman Freda, I don't want her anymore. And as for blood, blood can be cut too."
"Ha ha ha, Duane, there's no way you'd actually cut ties with her. Don't lie to me."
"Let me give you a hand, then."
And he hung up.
I didn't know what he was planning next. All I knew was that I'd seen through this so-called love and this so-called blood, and they'd never wound me again, not by an inch.
I slept straight through till morning. After I washed up, I went down to the restaurant to eat.
But when it came time to pay, my phone wouldn't go through.
"Sir, there's no money in your account."
"Do you have a card linked or anything?"
"I do."
I had exactly a million dollars in cash in that account. There was no way it was gone in two days.
Then it hit me, what Sid had said.
I froze for a beat, then quickly called Freda.
"Did you take my card and clean out all the money?"
"Yes."
"Sid needs capital to start his business. He can't do it without seed money."
"I hope you'll understand—"
"And who understands me? You emptied out everything I have, and now I don't even have the money to pay for a meal?"
"Do you really have to be this furious?"
"It's just a million dollars. If you can't cover your bill, borrow from a friend. But money for Sid's startup, that's something I'm duty-bound to give him."
Before I could get another word out, she hung up on me.
What chilled me most was this: only my mother knew where I kept that card.
Numb, everything in me gone cold, I called Ellie Head and asked her to transfer money over so I could pay.
Walking out of the restaurant, I passed a baby store.
Through the glass, I saw Sid with his arm around Freda, the two of them picking out baby things, my mother trailing behind to carry it all.
In that moment, I decided to let them go.
I took out my phone and called the police. "Hello. I want to report a crime."
"Someone stole my bank card and withdrew a million dollars."
"The woman who took the card is named Freda Harding. The man who took the million is named Sid Delgado."
"And if Freda claims she didn't steal it, that she was just taking her husband's money, then you tell her this: we never got a marriage license. There's no such thing as marital property between us."
