Chapter 6
I had no idea how long I'd been lying on the couch when my phone started buzzing like crazy, jolting me awake.
I hadn't blocked Alex on other apps.
I wanted him to see it all, on purpose.
When I opened it, there were dozens of unread messages, every single one from Alex.
Alex: [Wanda, where the hell are you?]
[Did you leave with your aunt? Where did you go?]
[Why did you transfer all the money away? That includes the 15 grand my mom gave us!]
[Wanda, explain yourself. You're running off with the money!]
I let out an angry laugh at that last message.
The bulk of the money I moved was the 60 grand my parents gave me as a dowry. The rest was just our paychecks and some cash gifts we'd gotten.
Margaret's 15 grand, if it was even in there, was barely a blip in the total. And now, suddenly, I was the one running off with the money.
Instead of replying, I went straight to his social media.
Just ten minutes ago, he'd posted a photo of his face, all red from the oil burn. The angle made it look way worse than it actually was.
The caption read: [I don't know what I did to deserve this. Maybe I was just fooling myself from the start.]
There were already dozens of comments flooding in.
His friends and our mutual friends were blowing up the comments, all trying to figure out what was going on.
The comments read: [Alex, did your wife beat you up?]
[Whoa, weren't you totally fine yesterday? Was this Wanda's doing?]
[Alex, what happened? If you need backup, just say the word.]
Margaret and Brian jumped in with their own comments right away.
Margaret: [My poor boy! You really married a vicious woman. My heart aches for you.]
Brian: [Alex, don't be sad. A woman like that isn't worth it.]
What a victim act.
What was he trying to pull? Playing the pity card? Hoping to use public sympathy to force me to cave?
How naive.
I commented right out in the open, using my own account.
Me: [Does it hurt? I mailed you some burn ointment. Make sure you take it.]
After I hit send, I put my phone down and didn't look at it again.
I knew that comment would blow up among our friends.
A newlywed wife dropping a weird reply like that to her so-called "abused" husband. No way people wouldn't notice something fishy was going on.
I got up and headed to the bathroom, flipping on the shower.
I let the warm water rinse away the fatigue clinging to me.
Staring at my reflection, I saw that my left cheek was still red and swollen, but my eyes were sharp and bright.
Once I was done, I slipped into some fresh clothes, feeling like I'd come back to life.
My stomach started rumbling, and that was when I realized I hadn't had a single bite all day.
I opened the fridge. It was totally empty, not even a scrap of food inside.
I was about to order delivery when my phone rang again. This time, it was an unknown number.
I hesitated for a second and then picked up.
"Hello, is this Wanda?" The voice on the other end belonged to a middle-aged woman, and it sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yes. Who's speaking?" I replied.
"It's Alex's aunt, Gloria. Don't you remember? We sat together at the wedding yesterday," She sounded really upbeat.
"Oh, Gloria, what's up?" I replied, keeping my voice cool.
Gloria said, "Wanda, what happened between you and Alex? You two just got married. How did things get so messy so fast? I just saw Alex's post online and was really shocked.
"Listen, every couple has its ups and downs, but you always kiss and make up. There's nothing you two can't get past.
"I watched Alex grow up myself, and if he did something wrong, try to be understanding. I'm here to apologize for him."
That was another one trying to smooth things over.
"Gloria, if that's all, I'm hanging up," I said, not interested in wasting any more time on her.
"Wait, don't hang up!" she said quickly, sounding a little desperate.
She went on, "Wanda, let me just say something fair. You know how men are. They care a lot about their pride, especially when other people are around.
At home, you two can fight all you want, but in front of his parents and brother, you gotta cut him some slack, right?
"You put him on blast in front of the whole family, so if he snapped for a second, it's kinda understandable."
Understandable?
I gripped my phone a little tighter.
"So, you're saying it's understandable that he hit me?" I shot back.
She hesitated for a moment and then quickly added, "Well, of course, him hitting you was wrong. That's not what I'm saying. I just mean, you know, it takes two to tango.
"Don't tell me you're totally innocent here. Where are you? Just come home already. Don't make everyone worry. After what you did to Alex, it's only fair you go back and look after him."
"I'm not going back," I said, my voice steady. "We're getting a divorce."
"What? Divorce?" Gloria's voice rose at once. "Wanda, you can't be serious. It's only your second day married! If word gets out, how embarrassing will that be?
"What's Alex supposed to do now, just hide in shame? And what about the Lewis family? How are we ever supposed to face our relatives and friends?"
She never gave a damn about whether I was okay or why he hit me. All she ever cared about was the Lewis family's reputation.
"That's for you guys to worry about, not me," I said, my voice flat.
After that, I hung up without a second thought and blocked her number.
I knew this was just the beginning. There were going to be a million more calls like this.
Alex's whole crew of relatives would be lining up, one after another, trying to guilt-trip and emotionally blackmail me.
I took a deep breath, grabbed my phone, and posted a status on social media—set so only our mutual friends and our families could see it.
It read: [This is Wanda Lane. On the very first day after our wedding, my husband, Alex Lewis, hit me for no reason. I've decided to end this marriage.
[For anything else, please contact my lawyer, Loren Parker, at XXX. I won't be answering any more questions about this.]
Once I hit send, I shut off my phone.