“In the morning, I’m going to take care of my son, help me with my homework, and take care of my dad.”
“Laundry, cooking, cleaning, all the care inside and out, I run everything!
“And you? You’ve been out for three years, you haven’t sent any money, not even a phone call you’ve ever been called!
Are you going to give me a freebie? Do you think I’m just trying to get you to stop?”
“Tumahimik ka!”
Ricardo shouted to cut me off, his brow furrowed and his voice full of bitterness:
“You don’t owe me anything! You are the only one in this family.
“Are you going to eat here and live in my house for free, and then you’re going to have to do something else just for the sake of it?”
“I’m going to have to go to the other side of the country to make a living, while you’re just having fun here at home, and then you’re complaining.”
“Free? Someone else?”
My whole body was shaking.
Those words were like a sharp knife that pierced my heart.
I took one step at a time, and in a fit of rage, I accidentally smashed the items off the table.
Clash!
The bottle of perfume that was supposed to be for her secretary Candy fell to the floor!
The bottle was cracked, the windows were shattered, and the whole living room immediately smelled bad.
Suddenly, Ricardo’s face flushed with anger, his eyes narrowing.
Then! Then! Then!
Three slaps. The sound of a slap echoed throughout the living room, but none of them made any attempt to stop him or defend me.
I held my cheek numb with pain and heat.
“Ricardo, did you hit me?”
“You deserve it!”
The veins came out of Ricardo’s forehead.
“I waited in line for 6 hours just to buy that perfume for Candy, it cost over 6,000 pesos!
You’re going to have to pay for it, so you’re going to pay for it to the last penny!”
“Bakit ko gagawin ‘yun!”
My wife’s face darkened.
Suddenly he turned around, grabbed an old black notebook from the secret pocket of his suitcase, and threw it on the floor in front of me.
The pages were scattered, full of letters.
He knelt down and pointed to the writings there, his gaze full of calculation and coldness:
“For three years—what you ate, what you wore, what you used, electricity, water, gas, Mom’s medicines, the child’s tuition… All of this is not a small amount.
Pay off all your debts before you ask me for a gift.”
I sat on the floor, looking at the notebook full of expense lists.
Each line lists what she calls my “expenses,” including the salon I bought for my mother-in-law,
My son’s notebook, and the market expenses for the whole family.
What he “forgot” to record was the fact that in three years, I didn’t get a single penny from him.
All of our expenses came from my own savings before we got married.
I worked day and night to serve her family, but instead of thanking her, she scolded me and charged me.
I looked at him, and I felt a terrible chill from foot to head.
I grabbed my face and slowly stood up.
I didn’t argue, I didn’t cry, and I didn’t lose.
I walked into the bedroom, opened the drawer, grabbed my ID, bank card, and a few pieces of clothing.
I quickly put it in the bag. There is no doubt.
In three years, this was the first time I hadn’t rushed to warm up, hadn’t changed my mother-in-law’s diaper, and hadn’t checked my daughter’s homework.
I walked out of the room with my bag.
Ricardo was still on the floor, carrying the notebook with him, still muttering as he calculated:
“The total amount is eighty-three thousand six hundred pesos. Pay fifty,000 first, and the rest will be yours.”
I walked past him without staring.
As I walked through the living room, I glanced at the broken perfume, the two older men who looked at me coldly, and my sister-in-law who looked triumphant.
I went to the door, grabbed my shoes, and put them on.
Ricardo finally noticed that something was strange, he suddenly stood up and grabbed my arm tightly:
“Dianne, what are you doing? Where are you going?”
I stopped, but didn’t look back. My voice was calm and emotionless:
“I have been loyal and have served this family for three years. You didn’t give a penny, you didn’t even give a dime.
Now I don’t want to.”
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