Million Dollars Dowry for a Sidepiece

I had just gotten hospitalization prior to my operation when my wife told me she was going on an urgent business trip, leaving me and our one-year-old daughter behind.

Two days later, her childhood sweetheart proudly posted a family photo on social media with a caption that said: “Took a picture of our happy family of three on our trip!”

I looked at my wife who was smiling tenderly in the picture and commented, “?”

My wife immediately called and berated me, “He's a single father who doesn’t have a wife to help take care of his child! All I did was take a picture with them, what are you being so defensive about?”

That same evening, her childhood sweetheart posted a picture of a million-dollar dowry given to him with the caption: “After we took the picture, she insisted on giving me this as a dowry.”

I knew my wife gave it to him to appease him.

But this time, I was going to leave her for good.

It was already afternoon. Agnes Carson still hadn’t called to offer an explanation.

Luther Greene was still constantly uploading new posts. He had just posted three pictures flaunting his million-dollar dowry, all of which rocked the internet.

The comment section was flooded instantly with people who did not hold back in expressing their envy.

That was when I spotted a comment from Agnes. "I accept your hand in marriage! In twenty years, we shall celebrate our anniversary with our children."

"I love you, my dearest wife."

My eyes felt scalded by their shameless, public display of affection. I went to the gallery on my phone and looked at the pictures of our daughter, Cecil Larke. I suppose Agnes had forgotten all about the fact that we had a one-year-old daughter together.

Last week was Cecil’s first birthday party. Agnes claimed she was busy with work and could not attend. Later on, I found out she skipped the party because she was trying to have Luther's son transferred to an elite school.

Then, the doctor stepped into the room and relayed an update to me, "Your condition is looking good. I’ll have your gall bladder surgery scheduled for tomorrow."

I was worried about leaving Cecil alone with the nurse for the surgery tomorrow.

After hesitating for several seconds, I ended up texting Agnes. "Do you think you can come home today? Something urgent came up on my end."

It took what felt like forever for her to reply, and when she did, her tone was very disgruntled. "You should know that I’m busy, so quit bothering me with something so trivial. Keep disturbing me, and we'll get a divorce!"

I stared stoically at the text. I had lost count of how many times she had threatened divorce.

It began after Luther showed up. Whenever I tried to express how seeing her flirt with Luther made me upset, she would threaten me with divorce like clockwork.

"We’re just friends. If you can't get over it, we can get divorced!"

I would inevitably apologize every time. This time around, I decided to give her what she wanted.

"I’m only texting you because I decided to have the surgery done earlier than planned. If it upsets you so much, I think we should get divorced."

A few seconds later, my phone rang.

Her voice sounded several measures gentler. "Did you get the surgery expedited? What time is it? I’ll come back and keep you company."

I frowned upon reading the reply, but still begrudgingly replied when I thought about Cecil, "It’s at two in the afternoon."

"Sure."

The next day, her phone was switched off and she could not be contacted. Left without a choice, I asked a friend for a favor and had him look after Cecil.

The surgery was completed in the evening. The doctor advised me to stay in the hospital for the next few days to monitor my condition.

Agnes never returned my calls. Meanwhile, Luther continued to flaunt their relationship on social media.

"I twisted my ankle slightly today, and she was so worried that she turned pale. She sped me to the clinic so I could get my ankle checked."

"She was going to take a flight back home today, but canceled her plans when I sprained my ankle."

"It was just a light sprain, but she refused to let me walk and insisted on getting me a wheelchair!"

I tapped on the post. It was a picture of Luther in a wheelchair with Agnes pushing him from behind.

I recalled an episode from when she had just started her business. At the time, I had gone on a business trip to meet her clients to secure a deal for her. Then, I got into an accident.

After being taken to the hospital, I was told that I had hurt my hip and that I needed to stay indoors and minimize movement for two weeks. I called Agnes and asked if she could buy me a wheelchair so that I could get home and nurse my wound.

She had sounded very upset on the phone.