Chapter 1
After Isaac Salazar's company went bankrupt, we spent the next ten years of our marriage living a modest and frugal life.
Our daughter, Charlee, wanted to celebrate her dad's birthday in style and eagerly offered to work part-time at a theme park to earn some extra money. Under the blistering sun, Charlee and I donned thick animal costumes, setting up a stall to sell stuffed toys. Despite being drenched in sweat, she handed me the last bottle of water with a hopeful look:
"Mom, once we sell all these toys, can we buy a big cake for Dad?”
"I haven’t had cake in ages either. Think I could have a small slice too?"
I stroked her little head, my throat tightening with emotion, ready to tell her that we’d saved enough money. But then I looked up and saw Isaac, sharply dressed, walking hand-in-hand with his first love, Haley, and her son. His face shone with happiness.
“Isaac, you’re spending too much. Titus is just having a birthday, no need to blow thousands on a private fireworks show tonight,” Haley said teasingly.
Meanwhile, the boy was savoring a Ben & Jerry's ice cream, hugging a model that cost a pretty penny. When I snapped back to reality, they had already paused in front of us.
Our daughter instinctively called out, "Dad..."
Isaac heard Charlee’s voice and hesitated, momentarily caught off guard.
But Titus quickly drew his attention.
“Uncle Isaac, I want to play that game. Would you play it with me, please?”
I quickly squeezed Charlee's hand gently. She caught the hint, lowering her voice, but her gaze was still fixed on Isaac, unwilling to look away.
As they drifted away, Charlee finally dared to look up at me, her voice trembling:
“Mom, wasn’t Dad supposed to be at work today?”
Exactly. Why would Isaac, supposedly broke, be dressed in such an expensive suit? And here he was, seemingly the perfect family with his first love, Haley, and her son, at an amusement park.
After we packed up, I approached the manager of the theme park. Carefully, I asked about the evening fireworks display. The answer left me completely disheartened.
Indeed, Isaac was the one who booked the fireworks show. He had never actually gone bankrupt. His identity was never that of a construction worker. He was the CEO of a publicly-traded company all along, and the business he said had closed had simply been renamed and continued operations.
These ten years of hardship—it was only Charlee and I who endured them. Seeing the rash on my daughter's arm from the heat, I was choked up.
Her tenth birthday was approaching, yet over the past nine years, she hadn't even tasted a slice of cake. She didn’t have new clothes of her own and didn’t even know what birthday presents felt like...
“Mom, that person probably wasn’t Dad, right? Dad’s clothes only have the smell of sweat, but that man smelled like really nice cologne,” Charlee murmured, as if trying to convince herself.
Holding back tears, I used a towel to wipe the sweat from her face, clenching my teeth to mask any sadness.
“That man just looks like Dad. We both just made a mistake.”
Yes, thousands of days and nights under the same roof, all this time, I misunderstood the Isaac Salazar who shared my bed.