: An Unexpected Bonus
4.
The four of us in the room wore four very different expressions.
I was full of admiration for my mom's calm, cool, and collected demeanor. She looked as if she were above it all. The mistress, of course, was smugly triumphant. As for my dad's expression… well, that was a bit more complicated.
First, his eyes widened in disbelief. Then, he started scrambling to save face.
"Wynn Rhodes, shouldn't I be the one saying that? After all these years of marriage, I've had more than enough of how bland you are! Who's going to want you if you leave me? How dare you be the one to so casually ask for a divorce?"
Men can be such scumbags sometimes!
He wanted to keep his wife at home while having his flings on the side.
He took his homemaker wife for granted, yet he couldn't bear to leave her.
My dad, naturally, was a master of the art.
The ultimate mooch with a massive ego.
Seeing that my mom's expression remained utterly unfazed, my dad's frustration turned to fury.
He grabbed a cup from the coffee table and smashed it. "Fine! Divorce! We'll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow! And I'm keeping the kid!"
Behind my dad's back, the mistress looked panicked, terrified my mom would leave a menace like me in the house.
My mom shook her head and calmly laid out the facts.
"She's grown up now. Legally, she has the right to choose for herself."
And just like that, three pairs of eyes fell on me.
'What a joke. Of course I'd choose my mom.'
I hugged my mom's arm tightly.
'My mom will always be my mom. But my dad? Once the mistress has him completely bewitched, will he even remember he has a daughter?'
My dad got even angrier, his face twisting with the anguish of being betrayed by both of us.
He pointed a trembling finger at my face. "Fine, fine, fine! You choose her! Go on! If you dare take a single step out of this house, then as far as I'm concerned, I don't have a daughter!"
My mom's eyes finally lit up.
"An offer that good?"
With that, she grabbed my hand and strode out of the house without a backward glance.
She didn't even bother with our luggage.
'After all, my mom wasn't short on cash.'
Behind us, we could hear my dad's furious, spluttering curses.
And, of course, the mistress's saccharine-sweet words of comfort: "Darling, I'll always be here for you."
BLECH—
'Good thing Mom got me out of there so fast.'
