On the day of Edith’s funeral, Kelsen didn’t show up. Instead, he sent his secretary Joey to see what I was up to.
“Where’s Kelsen?”
Joey was taken aback by Edith’s death and stammered in response to my questioning. “The hospital called this morning. Callie fainted…”
It turned out that over the years, Callie had slept with other men to pay off debts and had become pregnant by an unknown man but had a miscarriage.
Kelsen was caring for this kind of woman and refused to see Edith one last time!
Ironically, everyone but Kelsen adored Edith.
Many people from the school attended, and from her teacher, Ms. Lee, I learned that Edith was bullied by Alisa and her friends.
Alisa was nothing like the good child Kelsen described. Not only was she at the bottom of her class, but she also stole things and bullied her classmates.
Edith, fearing I would worry, begged her teacher not to tell me.
I remembered Edith once telling Kelsen at home, “Daddy, Alisa is a bad kid. Don’t play with her.”
Kelsen had lost his temper. “Alisa lost her father at a young age. She’s well-behaved and sensible. I think you’re the liar here! Helena, look at what a good daughter you’ve raised. How could she be so malicious to slander Alisa?”
After that, Edith never mentioned Alisa again.
The funeral ended, and I was heartbroken, feeling intense pain in my belly.
It turned out I was pregnant again, but the stress had caused complications.
The kind teacher and Joey took me to the hospital and helped me with the paperwork. That’s when I saw Callie in the room next door.
Kelsen was sitting by her bed, feeding her soup with a gentle expression.
Callie noticed me and panicked, shrinking back as if I were some monster.
Kelsen finally saw me at the door and mocked, “Helena, I didn't play along with your fake funeral, and now you can't keep up the act? Did you have to chase me all the way here?"
“I’m pregnant.”
Upon hearing this, Kelsen suddenly threw the bowl in his hand in a fit of rage. “Did you find out that Callie lost her baby and did this on purpose? How much did you pay to rent this room? You even dressed in the same hospital gown as Callie. Helena, don’t you realize how ridiculous you look?”
Callie covered her face and started crying. “Helena, I know I wronged Kelsen, and I deserve this, but I’m already miserable enough. Why come here to humiliate me?”
I felt exhausted and had no desire to argue with them, but I couldn’t help retorting, “No one forced you to sleep around.”
“Oh my god, how could you say something so vulgar to shame me? Kelsen, is this the noble, gentle wife of yours? You know, I’d rather die than live like this. I did it all for Alisa…”
“Callie, as long as I’m here, no one can hurt you or your daughter, not even Helena!”
Kelsen comforted Callie and then yanked my hair, throwing me down next to Callie’s bed. “Apologize to Callie!”
“Spit!”
I spat in Callie’s face, using the vilest words I could think of to insult her. “You bitch!”
Kelsen couldn’t take it anymore and shoved me to the ground. “Helena, if you keep this up, I’ll really leave you. Is that what you want? A divorce?”
We had been married for many years, and he had often used the threat of divorce against me. He knew how much I loved him and how terrified I was of losing him, which is why he felt free to hurt me as he pleased.
But this time, I agreed.
From the moment my daughter was burned to death, I had decided to divorce him.
Kelsen didn’t expect me to go this far, and his expression twisted with anger.
“I’ve spoiled you too much. Fine, we can divorce, and you can take whatever assets you want, but I want custody of Edith. No matter how you try to turn her against me and brainwash her into not seeing me, she will always be my daughter. She’ll only be corrupted if she stays with a mother like you!”
Seeing us reach this point, Callie could barely hide her smile. She no longer needed to sleep with other men to make money; she could finally take my place.
Dream on!
I lunged at Callie, wrapping my hands around her neck, ready to make her pay for Edith’s death.
Alisa pushed me hard, causing sharp pain in my belly.
“Bad woman! You’re a bad woman! Don’t hurt my mom!”
Looking at this inherently wicked child, my eyes burned with rage. She bullied my daughter at school and now was endangering my second child.
I slapped Alisa.
Kelsen couldn’t stand it any longer. He yanked me away and kicked me to the ground. I curled up in pain, but he didn’t stop, continuing to kick me.
“Keep pretending! You keep pretending! How dare you hurt Callie and hit Alisa. I’ve reached my limit with you!”
“You pathetic, insane woman! Do you know how hard I’ve worked all these years to be worthy of you? And you throw this tantrum over a trivial matter. I tolerated it all, but now you treat a woman who just lost her child like this. Are you even human?”
“Trivial matter?”
Ignoring the pain, I screamed in fury. “The school caught fire! Did you not know?”
“So what? Edith’s classroom was so close to the main entrance that she could have crawled out faster than anyone else. Alisa’s father died in that fire. Do you understand the psychological trauma that caused her?”
“Why wasn’t it you who burned to death?”
“Shut up! After cursing Edith, now you’re cursing me too?”
Seeing my pale face, Kelsen stopped kicking me. Callie gave Alisa a signal, and suddenly Alisa charged at me like a madwoman.
“You bad woman! You bully Mommy and Daddy Kelsen. I hate you!”
Alisa rammed into my belly with all her might. The pain was excruciating, and blood quickly spread across my pants.
My second child was gone.