I thought about his ambiguous relationship with Althea. I thought I was prepared. But I still hadn’t expected him to lose control so completely—for her.
I’d never seen such a sinister and devoted expression on his face. Even when we were in the heat of our relationship, when I was bullied, he only said threateningly, “I’ve called the police. I’ll talk to my lawyer later.”
It wasn’t that he was naturally indifferent. It was just that I wasn’t the one person he would make an exception for.
That night, I took a taxi to the hospital and had an abortion.
Before the procedure, Evander messaged me: Come pick her up at the police station.
I didn’t reply. I turned off my phone.
Two hours later, when I came out, I switched it back on. Over ninety-nine messages popped up instantly, all from him.
“Why didn’t you call back? I told you to come to the police station. Didn’t you see the message?”
“What do you mean? What are you doing?”
“Honey, please, come pick me up! I was just helping a little girl and couldn’t resist the urge.”
Then one message landed in the wrong place—his group chat.
“Evander, you lost! My sister-in-law didn’t come. Seventeen thousand dollars, pay up.”
“Thalia changed her gender? Evander, you’re about to fall out of favor!”
Evander shot back immediately: “Get lost! Thalia must be busy, otherwise she’d never ignore me.”
Then someone suddenly reminded him: “Damn, you sent it to the wrong group! Thalia is in here too!”
I remembered the day he introduced me to his friends and added me to this group. It had always been silent, no one ever spoke. I had suspected it was fake. Now, my suspicions were confirmed.
My heart went cold.
The messages were withdrawn one by one. Then my phone rang.
“Are you… busy? Didn’t you check your phone?”
“Yeah.”
That was all I said. He never messaged me again.
I started planning our breakup. I no longer needed the wedding house. But when I called the agent to sell it, he told me the deed had already been changed to someone else’s name.
I opened Althea’s IG Story.
There it was—a photo of my living room. The floor-to-ceiling windows, the bunny stuffed animal, the couple’s ornaments, every single one chosen by me.
Caption: This is my boy’s compensation to his mama. Not bad. I’m satisfied. I’ll forgive him just this once.
And beneath it, Evander’s reply: As long as you like it. Tonight, let’s warm up the house. Everyone’s invited.
A housewarming? How could there be one? There were no gifts.
So, I prepared one.
I went back to the hospital, retrieved the unborn embryo, and placed it inside a velvet-lined gift box.
I hired people to hang banners up and down the building: “Congratulations on the Housewarming!” “Best Wishes for Eternal Happiness!”
A neighbor asked me, “Girl, is there a happy event in your family?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yes, Auntie. My husband gave his wedding house to another woman, and I’m helping them celebrate.”
Her husband’s eyes lit up. He elbowed her and said, “See? Other wives aren’t so petty. Learn from her!”
Auntie slapped him across the face and dragged him inside by the ear.
I stood downstairs, passing out thick money envelopes. “Everyone is welcome to celebrate! One thousand five hundred dollars per person!”
I stroked my belly gently. “Consider it a blessing from our unborn child.”
In no time, the building was packed.
When the door finally opened, Evander had just lost a game and was being punished with a long kiss from Althea.
Seeing me, he shoved people aside, flustered. “Why are you here?”
I raised the little gift box, my smile calm, almost tender. “It’s a gift for you.”
Gasps rippled through the crowd behind me as dozens of phones were raised, screens flashing.
