“Travis is a young, successful and kind man. He’s a much better man than you, Matthew. Instead of making trouble, you should learn from him.”
Rebecca’s mother started scolding me nonstop. I tried to argue, but there were no words coming out. It all felt pointless. Their careless tone made me look like a crazy person. Yet, they truly drove me mad.
Both Rebecca and I first met in college. It was the time when we fell in love crazily. We stayed together naively and without knowing the real world. But we held on for five whole years.
When we spoke of marriage, her parents refused to agree to it. They put the blame on me for being poor. They even threatened to make Rebecca disabled if she dared to marry me.
After Rebecca and I got married, I focused all my attention on my work to calm her parents. To win business for the company, I drank so much that I ended up in the emergency room because of gastric bleeding. When her parents came to see me, they had nothing kind to say.
“I never agreed to your marriage. You’re such a loser! You even land in the hospital just because of one deal.”
“Why didn’t you drink him to death? That would have been better. My daughter could still find someone else while she’s young.”
I kept their words in mind and worked without rest to pull the company back up. Still, they looked down on me. No matter what I did, it might not be good enough for them. I thought Rebecca would see my effort, but she only felt I ignored her. Even my son slowly drifted away from me.
Eventually, I stopped everything and tried to make things right with my wife and our son. But she pushed me away. When my daughter was born, she was the one who asked Travis to stay with her during the birth and even let him join the photos of our daughter’s one-month-old celebration.
It might be because Rebecca’s parents despised me, but they supported her actions without question. I had had enough. I understood it this time.
All I wanted was to end it.
“Sign the divorce papers, then we’ll both be free. After the one-month-old celebration party for our daughter, we can split peacefully. I’ll give you half of our things.”
“As for our daughter, the custody will be mine. I’ll place her in the best schools.”
Rebecca lost all patience.
“What do you mean by putting our daughter in the best schools? Matthew, are you trying to raise our daughter into a paranoid madman like you?”
“You asked me to marry you, was it just to torture me? Just to kill me slowly?”
My wife then grabbed the divorce papers from the table, tore them to bits like a crazy woman and threw them at me.
“Don’t you just want me to admit I was wrong? Fine, I was wrong. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. Can I leave now?”
Her words carried no regret. Rebecca was only pressing me, forcing me to give in. My son tried to cover her with his small body.
“You bad man! I won’t let you hurt my mom. I won’t let you take my sister away!”
After a pause, Rebecca patted his shoulder gently.
“Sonny, apologize to Dad, too.”
“Uncle Travis came with us for your sister’s one-month-old celebration photos, so Dad got angry. If you don’t say sorry, he’ll leave the house.”
My son pouted.
“Then let him leave! I don’t want to see this bad man ever again!”
“I won’t apologize! Get out of our house, you bad guy! I want Uncle Travis to be my dad!”
When I looked at Sonny’s stubborn little face, I almost cried. He once loved me so much, always waiting for me to play with him after I got home from work.
Then, Rebecca clicked her tongue sharply.
“Sonny, don’t talk to Dad like that! Say sorry now, or he really will abandon us.”
