The Wife They Cast Aside

ra

art hammering against my bruised ribs. The sounds from my room grew more violen

ugh the door

ave, were torn from their hangers, slashed and ripped to shreds. My books were thrown across the floor, their spines broken, pa

he grabbed a bottle of my perfume-a rare gift I had bought for myself-and h

hate you!" she shrieked w

ical manifestation of my life being

eld her for three days straight, humming lullabies, sponging her small, hot forehead. She

at the kitchen table, my finger tracing the words, until she finally read a full page by herself. The look

every birthday party, kissed every scraped knee, and chased away

s was m

I pleaded, my

? So you can keep all your ugly things? My real mommy is coming home! She' s b

h papers, my academic awards, the last vestig

k in the scene-the destroyed room, the crying ch

anger wasn't directed at

low, dangerous growl. "You and your drama. Pushing he

held her close, stroking her hair, murmuring soothing words. "It' s ok

e monster who had ju

treaked face looked over his shoulder at me. Her expression was

d out her small hand and grabbed the heavy crystal paper

wrist, she threw it

hes, smashing into the wall right beside my ear with a sickening thu

here the heavy object lay. It wasn't just a tantrum anymore. That

her away, his footsteps fading down the

as thick with the cloying scent of my destroyed perfume. My ankle thro

ddle-aged housekeeper, holding a dustpan and broom. She had bee

ut at the devastation around us.

leaned up, ma' am,

ments efficient and practiced. After a moment of s

king, your help with her schoolwork... she took it all and acted lik

ly a stranger. But it was the first time in ten years anyone in this ho

was the final crack

s. The grief I had suppressed for a decade, the pain, the loneliness, the betrayal-it all came pouring out in a flood of raw,