Meridel’s POV
I was a step too slow; the plate fell to the floor and shattered into pieces!
I crouched down, trying to piece the fragments back together.
Even just then, Schandra casually smashed a teacup, too.
“The belongings of the dead don’t belong in this villa. That’s just creepy!”
My whole body trembled with rage. I snatched up a shard of porcelain and slashed it toward her face.
That made her let out a piercing scream. “Ahhh!”
Her cry drew Milton and our children rushing in. Before I could say a word, Schandra was already playing the victim.
“Milton, save me! I only asked one question about your marriage, and she tried to kill me!”
His face darkened, then he hit me hard.
“Meridel! How can you be so cruel?! What has Schandra ever done to you that you can’t bear to let her exist?”
Finally, he snatched up the divorce papers.
“Fine! You wanted a divorce, didn’t you? I’ll give it to you then!”
He signed his name with a furious stroke, then flung the papers at my face.
“From now on, in this villa, Schandra gets to have the final say!”
My own children glared at me, their voices filled with outrage.
“All this just for a few broken plates? To lash out at Aunt Schandra like that—you’ve really gone mad!”
“Let’s see what you’ll do if we smash the rest of this junk!”
The two of them grabbed the dishes and hurled them one after another, shattering the entire set.
The sharp, brittle sounds pierced me like a dull knife, slicing my heart into pieces.
After venting, the three of them clustered around Schandra, fussing over her injuries, dabbing ointment on her cuts—while I lay among the shards, bloodied and ignored.
Wiping away my tears, I picked up the divorce papers and tucked them safely away. Then, I rose quietly and returned to my room.
The next morning, when I opened the door, I saw the four of them already dressed to the nines.
Emerson scowled the moment his eyes landed on me.
“You and Dad are divorced already. Don’t bother coming to our coming-of-age party. You’ll just embarrass us.”
Enid, her arm linked with Schandra’s, sneered.
“With Aunt Schandra by our side, we don’t need some washed-up old woman like you tagging along.”
Their coming-of-age party was something I had prepared for an entire year.
I had crafted gifts with my own hands, pushing myself until my stomach illness relapsed.
I had written them letters, so many that they stacked as thick as a book.
I had walked miles upon miles, wearing out two pairs of shoes, just to pray for their future.
Yet now, I wasn’t even allowed the right to attend.
My thirty years of devotion were swept aside by a single lie from Schandra.
I guessed it was not bad at all. Today was the day I had planned to leave anyway.
Emerson and Enid eagerly ushered Schandra out the door, afraid I might insist on coming.
Milton lingered behind, casting me a look of disgust.
“You look so unpresentable. You really don’t suit attending today’s party.”
I didn’t argue. Instead, I went back to my room, picked up the gifts I had prepared, and held them out to him.
“Pass these to them for me for their party.”
It was my last act of tenderness as their mother.
Milton frowned, studying me closely.
“You’re acting strange today.”
If this had been the old me, being replaced by another woman, I would have made sure no one in this villa had peace.
But now, I was calm. I accepted it all as if none of it mattered anymore.
That unsettled him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Schandra’s voice called from outside.
He gave me one last glance before saying coldly, “We’ll be back early. Have dinner ready, and wait for us.”
Even at this point, he was still bossing around.
But I was no longer the housewife orbiting around their needs.
After they left, I called the delivery guy.
“Tonight, send it here and hand it to Milton.”
Before leaving, I had also prepared a “gift” for my ex-husband.
Then, I erased my fingerprint and face data from the lock system, placed the spare emergency key in the entryway cabinet, and dragged my suitcase toward the door.
Without looking back, I walked away from the place I had lived in for thirty years.
On the way to the airport, I received a message: my niece’s husband had returned early from his assignment.
A faint smile lifted the corners of my lips.
The plane rose through the clouds, and the familiar state shrank, smaller and smaller, fading into the distance.
At last, my suffering had come to an end.
But theirs… theirs was only just beginning.
