Chapter 9
Losing my baby and just moving on without making a fuss felt completely wrong. Actually, I threw the funeral and then started acting out at home on
purpose.
When Iris tried to get rid of the baby’s crib, I held on tight, refusing to let go. She tried to hit me, but I wasn’t having it–I slapped her right back. She‘ d never been
challenged like this and was livid, so we ended up in a full–blown brawl.
When Alan came home and saw us fighting, he didn’t say a word before.
starting to lay into me. It turned into a scene where they were both ganging up on
- me.
“It’s just a worthless little girl. If you keep this up, I’ll make my son divorce. you!” Iris yelled at Alan, who nodded in
agreement.
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“I know you‘ re upset, but don‘ t lose it. We can always have another kid. If you
keep acting like this, I’ll have to divorce you,” Alan chimed in.
That was exactly what I needed–to avoid things getting worse. To keep the peace, I played along, cried, and made up with Alan. We let the whole baby situation slide.
I knew Alan wouldn’t really divorce me. The house we lived in was bought before our marriage. Even though I was still paying off the mortgage, it was a small amount, and if we split, he wouldn’t get much. Plus, with my decent salary, I was a cash cow for them, so they had no reason to let me go.
So, I acted scared of the divorce threat and kept things calm. I went back to playing the meek and easily bullied wife, all while secretly watching them and plotting my
revenge.
Soon enough, I discovered Alan was. cheating on me with a gold digger and
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uncovered one of Iris‘ s secrets. Not only did she go out to play Texas Hold’em every day, but she also visited an old man from the neighboring community for social dancing.
The old man was quite distinguished- looking for his age but was living off his second wife’s pension, which was decent because her children were successful. To
keep him happy, Iris frequently gave money to his son, a local tough guy. She was more generous with him than with her own kid.
The old man, impressed by Iris‘ s generosity, quickly got involved with her and even promised to leave his wife for her, hoping his son would treat Iris like a real
mother.
I saw this as my opportunity. I’d already planned to use Isabella and the greedy old man to pit Iris and Alan against each other
and make them suffer.
But then, everything changed. Alan and
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Isabella were in a car accident.
I couldn’t believe my luck!
Alan‘ s accident turned out to be a weird blessing. After he came home from the hospital, I got him a wheelchair, but his injuries were still fresh, and he could barely manage to sit in it.
Isabella had left him, and Iris was out every day, strutting around in her best outfits, coming home all smiles. She only gave Alan the bare minimum of attention.
When Alan wanted to hire a caregiver, Iris’s face went ice cold. “Why spend money on that? Katrina can take care of you. If she doesn’t do a good job, just threaten her with divorce. She’s got no family, and has been married before–who’s going to want her if you dump her? She won’t dare push for divorce.”
Iris was so full of herself, thinking she had me totally under her thumb. Little did she know, that while she was being stingy with
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Alan’s money and lavishing it on her old boyfriend, Alan’s resentment was building up into a full–blown storm.
I kept Alan in the loop about everything Iris was doing. She was spending thousands on clothes for the old man,
buying the latest gadgets for his son, and showering them with cash. She even threw lavish seafood dinners for them.
Yet, she wouldn’t spend a few thousand a month on a caregiver for her own son. Even when Alan complained about how he was being mistreated, Iris refused to
believe it and only threw a few threats my
way.
In her mind, I was too scared to stand up to Alan or her. She figured Alan‘ s complaints were just a way to get more. money out of her. And of course, I stoked those fires by telling her that Isabella had messed up her face and was hounding Alan
for cash.
After countless attempts to get money and
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failing, Alan finally snapped.
