Divorced for Four Years, Now He Begs for Me

Theres this game making the rounds with my buddies lately. The idea is to pretend youve gone bankrupt for a month, just to see if the woman in your life is the real deal.

To make it convincing, not only did my friends and family agree to play along, but my company even brought in a new boss to complete the charade.

I swapped my designer clothes for a cheap five-dollar t-shirt and a beat-up trucker hat. Full of confidence, I went to find the woman I thought I loved more than anyone: Serena.

But the second she saw me, her face twisted in disgust. Without a word, she had security throw me out like a piece of trash.

I just stood there for a long time, my mind a total blank. When I finally came to my senses, I shakily dialed another number.

When the call connected, I said in a raw voice, "Sophie, honey? Daddy's gone broke. I don't even have a place to stay."

On the other end, my daughter's sweet, innocent voice replied, a gentle comfort. "Daddy, don't be scared. You can have my room."

When Bennys call came, I was in the kitchen baking a cake.

My daughter, who was playing a game on my phone, answered it.

I don't know what he said, but suddenly, my four-year-olds face lit up, and she came running towards me.

She ran so fast one of her little shoes fell off.

"Mommy, this is great! Daddy's gone bankrupt! He can come to my birthday party this year!"

Bankrupt?

The call was still connected. The contact name was "Ex-Husband."

The last time Benny had called was on New Year's.

He only ever contacted me on holidays.

He'd summon me to his parents' house to play the happy couple, to keep the old folks happy.

The moment we were out of their sight, he'd coldly drop my hand and drive off to be with Serena.

His back seat would be piled high with gift boxes, the passenger seat covered in a sea of red roses.

I would clutch the thousand-dollar "performance fee" he'd tossed me and stand in the biting wind, feeling nothing.

Because with that money, Sophie and I had our rent covered for the next six months.

Hearing that Benny was bankrupt, I was just confused. Why wasn't he calling his precious, doted-upon Serena?

Why was he calling me, a woman he couldn't stand the sight of?

Benny's voice came through the phone, cautious. "Luna... I have nowhere to stay, and I haven't eaten all day. Can you... can you take me in?"

I was about to say "No."

But my daughter clutched my skirt.

Her big, grape-purple eyes blinked, full of hope and pleading.

"Mommy, please? Just let Daddy be here for my birthday this one time. All the other kids have both their parents at their birthday parties."

I looked down at her, and my heart ached.

I knew how much Sophie longed for a father's love.

Benny did love Sophie, in his own way.

He'd take her to theme parks, buy her little dresses, and send her entire sets of those princess mystery boxes.

But then one day, Sophie came home with her head hanging low and said she would never "bother" her daddy again.

I dropped my spatula and stormed over to his villa.

With the arm strength I'd built from washing a thousand dishes a day, I slapped Serena across the face, again and again.

I shoved her head into the toilet to give that filthy mouth of hers a good rinse.

After that, Benny never mentioned seeing Sophie again.

But today was Sophies birthday. All she wanted was to have her parents with her.

I relented. "Benny, Sophie misses you. You can come over for dinner."

On the other end, the man let out a sigh of relief.

It was the sound of someone realizing they hadn't lost everything after all.

"You're still at The Crestwood Estates, right? I'm on my way."

I was confused. "Where? I've never been there."

I rented an apartment at Maple Creek, close to the kindergarten.

Our street was lined with food stalls. At night, you could hear the muffled bass from the karaoke bar across the road, and the pest control van made its scheduled rounds right below our window.

It was a world away from the luxury complex Benny was talking about.

There was a long silence on the phone before he asked for my current address.

Even in his cheap clothes, the man's presence was undeniable.

The moment he walked in, Sophie launched herself at him, hugging his leg.

Benny stroked her head fondly, his eyes scanning our small two-bedroom apartment. The warmth in them instantly vanished.

"This is the kind of place you have my daughter living in?"

My hand, holding the teapot, froze.

The apartment was nicely renovated, with clean, natural wood finishes.

From the large appliances down to the cartoon-themed floor mats, Sophie had picked everything out herself, and I had paid for it.

No matter how hard things got, I never let Sophie feel inferior about what she ate, wore, or where she lived.

And yet, Benny's first act upon entering my home was to find fault.

But then again, he and Serena lived in a 5,000-square-foot villa. Of course this felt cramped to him.

I dumped the tea I was making into the trash and pulled my daughter aside.

"Sophie, sweetie, why don't you go to your room and see if you can find the birthday present Mommy hid for you, okay?"

The little girl's face lit up, and she ran into her bedroom.

My smile vanished. I shot daggers at Benny.

"This kind of place? Who was it just now, begging to come to 'this kind of place'? You don't even have 'this kind of place' to live in anymore. What right do you have to criticize me?"

Benny quickly composed himself.

He was supposed to be a bankrupt loser now.

Not a CEO.

He sat down on the sofa, looking a bit awkward.

"You misunderstood. I meant, why aren't you living in the house I gave you?"

I had no idea what he was talking about.

"What house?"

When we divorced, all I had was a single suitcase and my three-month-old daughter, Sophie.

The little money I had came from selling the jewelry his parents had given me.

Bennys handsome brow furrowed.

"Luna, you gave me a child. Even if I don't love you, I would never neglect my own flesh and blood."

"I had my secretary, Mr. Quinn, buy a house for you both, and I set aside a large settlement for you. You didn't take it?"

A house? A settlement?

This was the first I was hearing of it.

But it clicked into place immediately. "I didn't take a single thing. Are you broke now and trying to shake me down for money?"

Bennys eyes narrowed, a storm of regret brewing within them.

"Luna, I would sooner beg on the streets than take a dime from you. In this entire world, the person I've wronged the most is you."

Our past was like a trashy novel.

I was the orphaned daughter of the man who had saved Benny's father's life.

The Young family took me in when I was eight, and his father doted on me.

His mother liked my gentle nature.

And Benny, two years my senior, treated me like a little sister he had to protect.

Hed fight off the bullies who picked on me.

He took me to see beautiful places, to interact with animals.

He did everything he could to pull me out of the grief of losing my parents.

And I poured my secret crush into my diary.

"Luna loves Benny. Will Benny ever love Luna?"

In my senior year of college, I got my answer.

Benny proposed.

I was overjoyed that he loved me back.

Like a fool, I went with him to get our marriage license. It cost nine dollars.

I didn't know that his father had given me 10% of the company's shares as a dowry, while making Benny start from the bottom.

Benny wasn't marrying me. He was marrying a comfortable life and a promising future.

After we married, I was lost in a dream of love.

I cooked for him, ironed his shirts, picked him up from late-night meetings.

But while I was pregnant, he cheated on me with a "sympathetic" intern.

Serena, who was half a year older than me.

He said Serena understood him, that she was his soulmate, that they were true love.

He said what he felt for me was just familial affection.

Benny's father, with his sharp eye, saw through Serena's cunning and hypocrisy.

He declared that as long as he was alive, that vixen would never set foot in his house.

Benny came up with a compromise.

He wouldn't divorce me, keeping me around to appease his parents.

But he would give Serena all the perks of being his wife, short of a marriage certificate.

That day was the tenth day after Sophie was born.

I, who had always let Benny walk all over me, ripped out my IV, grabbed the fruit knife, and without a second thought, plunged it into my own abdomen.

Marrying Benny was my mistake. I was young, foolishly in love, an absolute idiot.

His cheating, his treating me like a maidI deserved it all.

But I would rather die than let him ruin my daughter's life.

Blood pooled on the floor.

Benny froze.

He was panicked, terrified, guilt-ridden.

He pressed his hands to my stomach, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

"Luna, don't die."

I was stubborn.

If he didn't agree to a divorce and give me full custody of our daughter, I would kill myself.

If they saved me, I'd do it again, until I was dead for good.

If I died, his father would make Serena's life a living hell.

To protect Serena, Benny signed the divorce papers.

The day I left, he gave me one last instruction.

We had to keep the divorce a secret. On holidays, I had to come back and play the happy wife for his parents.

I said fine. I'd charge by the appearance. One thousand dollars a pop.

For Benny, the man I would "rather die than be with," to have to turn around and pay meit was a blow to his pride.

His face contorted in a sneer.

"Don't you have any feelings for me at all? Is money all you care about? Fine. I won't give you a single cent. I'll wait for you to come crawling back, broke and begging."

He was a man of his word.

The "financial compensation" mentioned in the divorce agreement? I never saw a dime of it.

I did live a life of poverty, but I got back on my feet, all by myself. I never once went back to him.

Thinking back, Benny pressed his fingers to his temples.

"I was just angry. A single mother and a child... of course I wouldn't have actually abandoned you."

"But your angry words were my life for the past four years."

Benny was silenced.

He looked around the room again. The furniture wasn't cheap, but it was far from luxurious.

A single pair of Serena's socks cost a few hundred dollars. The clothes I was wearing were years old.

Benny picked up his phone and called his secretary, Mr. Quinn.

"Mr. Young... I mean, Benny. What can I do for you?"

With a new boss in charge, Mr. Quinn was still adjusting.

Benny's voice took on its old authoritative tone. "Four years ago, I asked you to buy a house in The Crestwood Estates and set aside an eighty-million-dollar settlement. Did you deliver it to my ex-wife personally?"

Eighty million? That would have been enough for Sophie and me to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.

Mr. Quinn hesitated. "Well... I think you'll have to ask Ms. Serena about that..."

Her again.

A wave of pure hatred washed over me.

Serena already had so much. If she dared to touch what belonged to Sophie, I would make her regret it.

At seven o'clock, I brought a Lamb-themed cake to the table.

Sophie squealed with delight.

"Wow, Mommy, you're amazing! I love you so much!"

My phone buzzed with messages from other parents in her class.

"Did your mom make that herself? It looks better than the custom one I ordered from a bakery! I'm so jealous!"

"Sophie's mom is so talented. She can do fox makeup, make handmade bags, carve fruit... and now she makes beautiful cakes too..."

In the past four years, I'd done every odd job imaginable to make ends meet, turning myself into a jack-of-all-trades out of sheer necessity.

Sophie carefully cut the cake, giving the first piece to me and the second to Benny.

"Daddy, this is the first birthday you've ever spent with me. I'm so, so happy."

Benny, who had been staring blankly at his phone, snapped back to reality and accepted the cake with exaggerated enthusiasm.

I knew what he was thinking about.

Today was also Serena's birthday.

In all the years past, he had always celebrated with her.

It was no coincidence that my daughter and my rival shared a birthday.

When I was nine months pregnant, Serena got tired of just taunting me with texts and photos.

Or mailing me the free samples that came with the luxury goods Benny bought her.

She came to the hospital to provoke me in person.

It was her birthday, and Benny had just given her an engagement ring, promising her the wedding of the century.

She came to invite me and my unborn child to attend.

The rage and stress sent me into premature labor.

I hemorrhaged, and we both nearly died.

For the first time, Benny scolded Serena.

Serena's eyes filled with tears. "I just wanted to be with you, out in the open..."

Benny's heart melted, and he pulled her into his arms.

"Shh, I'm keeping her around to protect you."

Just on the other side of the wall, I was fighting for my life in the delivery room.

All I felt was disgust and despair.

The pain was a blade twisting in my soul.

So now, hearing Benny was bankrupt, all I could think was that he deserved it.

After the cake, I tried to kick him out.

Benny looked at me pitifully. "I have nowhere to go."

I shoved him out the door with all my strength.

"Not my problem. Go find her."

The hallway light flickered on, then off.

Benny stood outside my door for a long time.

Then his body slid down against the door, his head sinking in defeat.

In truth, Serena was the first person he had gone to.

Benny had thought to himself, I've spoiled Serena for four years, given her anything she ever wanted.

When she heard he was in trouble, she would surely be frantic, ready to do anything for him.

If she was willing to sell just one of the properties he'd bought her, she would pass his test.

He couldn't bear to make it too hard on her.

But when Serena saw him in his blue-collar getup, she couldn't hide her disgust.

A needle pricked the man's heart.

Serena quickly masked it with a smile and welcomed him in.

She figured this was all part of some elaborate birthday surprise.

Pretend to be broke, then reveal the real gift.

But a moment later, she saw a message in the group chat she shared with Benny's wealthy friends.

"The Young family is done for. Even his parents fled the country overnight."

"He sold the company and still owes a billion. Benny will be paying that off for the rest of his life."

"Not necessarily. He bought Serena all those houses and luxury goods. She can sell them to pay it off. But then, she'll have to live a simple life with him."

Someone remembered that Serena was in the chat.

Another friend cursed.

She was immediately kicked from the group.

Serena's eyes went wide.

It was so brutally real.

Before, it was always "Serena, darling," "our girl."

Now, they couldn't even kick her out without a curse word.

A storm was coming, and she had to save herself.

"Your family is bankrupt? What does that have to do with me? Do we have a marriage license? Do your parents even accept me? Why should I have to sell my houses?"

Benny's heart hammered in his chest. He thought he must have misheard.

His sweet, understanding girlfriend... how could she suddenly sound like this?

"Serena, what are you saying? Besides a piece of paper, what haven't I given you? I practically tore out my own heart for you. I gave up my wife and child for you."

Benny thought that would appeal to her sense of loyalty.

He was wrong. Serena just scoffed.

"You gave me those things willingly. I've never heard of anyone asking for gifts back. I slept with you for four years. You didn't expect to get that for free, did you?"

"Besides..."

Seeing the raw fury in Benny's eyes, Serena's contempt grew.

"A man who can abandon his own wife and child... you really think I'd want a man like that?"

"Your wife nearly died in childbirth, and you didn't care. Who knows if there will be a fourth or a fifth woman down the line? Who's to say you wouldn't do the same to me?"

Benny staggered, barely able to stand, but he had no rebuttal.

Serena fiddled with her phone. "Well, you're useless to me now. So here's a little parting gift. I'll tell you why your wife was so desperate to divorce you."

"From the first time you slept with me, I sent her everything. Photos of our dates, our time in bed, the gifts you bought me. I sent it all."

"She really put up with it for a long time. It took me pushing her into premature labor for her to finally snap. I'm not a fool like her. I would never be your free maid, your baby-making machine..."

A bolt of lightning seared through Benny's brain.

So, Luna had given him chances. So many chances.

Serena dropped the act completely. "Benny, darling. I scraped your social media clean the day I started at the company. I knew all your likes and dislikes. What you thought was a soul connection was just me doing my homework... honestly, it was exhausting trying to keep you entertained..."

Benny couldn't take it anymore. He lunged forward and wrapped his hands around her throat, as if to strangle the life out of her.

"You... you were only after my money! You used my love! You destroyed my marriage! You nearly cost me my child! My father was right, you're a disease!"

Before he could finish, security guards, summoned by Serena, dragged him away and threw him out of the building.

It was the end of June, but Benny was shivering uncontrollably.

Just then, his phone buzzed. It was a notification from the group chat named "Her True Heart."

The same friends from before had created a private chat to check on the results of their game.

"Benny, bro, we just put on a hell of a show. Is Serena scrambling to sell a house to save you?"

Benny typed back with furious thumbs: "Her name is Luna, and I'm going to win her back."