I brought my mother's body to the crematorium. Took her ashes back to our hometown and picked an auspicious day to put her in the ground.
I stayed for a month after that.
When I came back to the city, the apartment was exactly how I'd left it. She hadn't been home once. Hadn't called once.
Her heart—her whole self—was with Victor Delgado and his child now.
I contacted a lawyer and asked him to draft a divorce agreement.
The moment she came back, I'd file. I set my phone down and let out a long breath.
Tomorrow I'd go back to the office. Surely the gossip about me had died down by now.
The second I stepped through the doors, my coworkers greeted me warmly enough, then immediately dropped their voices and huddled together, whispering.
I knew I couldn't escape the mockery. I kept my face blank and walked in.
"Man, if I were Darrell I'd beat the shit out of both of them."
"He can't. The company belongs to Victor's uncle. Jobs aren't easy to find. If he actually hit Victor, he'd lose his position too."
"So he's just supposed to take it? Watch someone else sleep with his wife and then play daddy to the kid?"
"What else can he do? A man without money doesn't get to fight a man who has it."
Every humiliating word reached my ears, each one sharp enough to sting.
The entire office knew. My enemy had slept with my wife and fathered her child.
That green hat was on me head to toe. Every last inch of me wore it.
Then, all at once, the whispering stopped.
Victor Delgado stood at the other end of the hallway, coffee in hand, watching me.
Our eyes locked, and he saw the raw hatred in mine.
Every colleague in the corridor held their breath, staring at the two of us.
"Are they going to fight?"
"Someone call security. Now."
Victor, afraid I'd retaliate, slipped a small paring knife out of his pocket.
I watched him without expression, then walked forward.
As I drew level with him, he curled his lip into a cold smirk. "She was barely out of the delivery bed before she spent a whole day and night with me."
I stopped. Victor raised the paring knife a little higher.
I knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted me to snap and throw the first punch so he could stab me and call it self-defense, then have me arrested on top of it.
Security guards came rushing in. All this commotion over me. They really underestimated my restraint.
"Darrell, your month-long leave dragged your entire team's numbers down."
"If you still want to work here, come to my office later and pick up those files. Get them done."
I'd thought about quitting. But the guys on my team were brothers who'd stuck with me through everything.
My month away had gotten them chewed out constantly. Even if I was going to leave, I owed it to them to deliver results and get them promoted first.
When he saw I wasn't going to fight back, Victor relaxed and let a sneer spread across his face. "What an obedient little dog. You know you owe those guys, so you'll choke it all down and stay."
The implication was clear: if I walked, he'd fire my team.
They had parents to support and kids to feed. I couldn't carry that on my conscience.
Back at my desk, the guys gathered around me.
"Darrell, let's all quit together. We don't have to put up with his garbage."
"Yeah, and don't beat yourself up. A woman like that isn't worth keeping."
I set down what I was holding and looked at them calmly. "I'm single now. I've got nothing to lose. But you guys are different."
"Before I leave, I'm going to make sure you're taken care of."
The moment I clipped on my badge, one of Victor's people came over. "Darrell, Director Delgado says to come get those files. Now."
I walked to Victor's office. The door was half open. Through the gap I saw Charlotte perched on the edge of his desk, her legs locked around his waist.
