Chapter 2
Just as my heart started to soften, the comments appeared again.
[I can't watch this. What kind of gift is that? It's the freebie trinket that came with the gold bracelet he bought for the female lead! It's probably just a plated bead!]
[Seriously, the wife is so easy to fool. She gets teary-eyed over anything the son gives her.]
My hand froze mid-air.
[The only reason the wife's son gives her gifts is because she always repays him ten or a hundred times over in cash!]
[And then he uses that money to buy better gifts for the female lead.]
[Even the Lego sets his son always says he wants are meant to be built into a 'family' scene and given to the female lead.]
I looked at my son in despair. Was every gift he ever gave me just a transaction?
"Mommy, I want the Legos! Please buy them for me, please?" Lucas hugged my leg, swinging back and forth.
I looked at him coolly. How had I never noticed before how good my son was at lying?
"Lucas, not now. We have no money," I replied, keeping my tone distant. "You saw today. Daddy owes a lot of money to bad people."
[The wife's son is about to suggest she go work at the female lead's shop.]
Seeing this, my heart turned to ice.
Sure enough, Lucas spoke up the next second, "Mommy, Vera is looking for a cleaning lady. You should go work for her. Then you'll have money to buy my Legos."
So Vera Cole, the owner of the diner downstairs, was Andrew's mistress.
I suddenly remembered the filthy, rat-infested environment of that diner. They actually wanted me to work there.
A cold dread washed over me.
Looking at this father-son duo playing their parts, my heart sank to the depths.
I took a deep breath, sneered coldly, and agreed. "Fine. I'll go in a bit."
I wanted to see what game they were trying to play.
Andrew and Lucas looked thrilled at my response.
"Mommy, Dad and I will go with you," Lucas said.
I readily agreed. "Sure."
Before leaving, I secretly called the lottery shop from the bathroom.
We arrived at the diner. Just as we reached the door, my hand felt empty. I looked up to see Lucas had already run into Vera's arms.
"Vera, I missed you so much!" he cooed in a tone he never used with me.
Vera shot me a smug look, then hooked her arm through Andrew's and showered Lucas with kisses.
The happy scene looked like a picture-perfect family of three.
[Does the female lead know the wife?] The floating comments started to appear again.
[Of course! She's always bad-mouthing the wife to the father and son.]
[And the money to open her shop came from the wife's earnings!]
"So, what's going on here?" I asked sarcastically.
Andrew was startled. He quickly pushed Vera away and looked at me with an awkward laugh. "Sweetie, I was just explaining your situation to the boss, so you can work here."
Vera, displeased at having her arm freed, glared at me.
My eyes instinctively went to the gold bracelet on her wrist. It was bought with my blood and sweat.
Noticing my gaze, Vera made a point of showing off the bracelet.
"Oh, my husband dotes on me. Just gifted me this gold bracelet the other day," Vera said smugly. "Andrew didn't get you one?"
She glanced at my wrist, saw the bracelet there, paused for a second, then mocked me. "You can tell that's just gold-plated silver. Figures. You earn in a month what I make in a single day," she jeered.
Before I could react, Vera took a pair of scissors and snipped my bracelet open.
The silver metal inside was clearly visible to everyone.
Vera scoffed. "See? I was right. Why are you pretending to be rich?"
I couldn't help but retort, "It's just a bracelet! I could buy this whole dump of yours right now."
"You are making a complete fool of yourself here!" Andrew was looking at me with utter annoyance.
He glanced guiltily at Vera, then launched into a criticism of me. "When did you pick up this bad habit of comparing yourself to others? Don't you know our situation?
"Besides, someone like the boss lady, with her delicate skin, looks good in gold jewelry. Your hands are all rough from delivering food. Would a gold bracelet even look good on you?"
Even my son came over to critique me. "Mommy, Dad's right. A gold bracelet doesn't fit you."
I was so angry I could barely catch my breath. Before I could recover, Andrew grabbed my arm roughly and dragged me over to Vera.
"Emma is here about the job. Didn't you say you needed a cleaning lady?" he asked.
Lucas quickly nodded, "Vera, please let Mommy work here. She really needs the money."
The comments popped up again.
[The female lead just mentioned offhand that she wanted to see the wife humiliated, and the father-son duo immediately agreed to make her work at the female lead's shop and get yelled at.]
I stood there, stunned, unable to process it for a long moment.
Andrew gave me a shove and looked ingratiatingly at Vera. "What do you think? Can she handle cleaning?"
Vera looked me up and down like I was a piece of merchandise.
"Sure. She can start by scrubbing the toilets right now." She pointed towards the filthy, greasy restroom.
"Thank you, generous and beautiful Ms. Cole!" Andrew didn't seem to notice the lovesick look in his own eyes as he gazed at Vera.
"Yay! Mommy has a new job! I can get the Legos I want!" Lucas cheered happily.
When another rat scurried past my feet, I'd had enough.
"I'm not doing it!" I said sharply.
Lucas's cheering stopped abruptly. Andrew looked at me disapprovingly.
"Do you even hear yourself?" Andrew snapped.
"I went to all the trouble to find you this job, and you just say you won't do it?" he said, his voice thick with annoyance.
"Are you still hoping for some office job? Ask yourself if you're even capable of that!" Andrew scoffed.
The accusations came pouring down.
Vera sighed dramatically. "Andrew, seems your wife isn't grateful. My little shop can't handle such a high-maintenance person."
She then sat down to the side, ignoring me.
Andrew, flustered, dragged me in front of Vera again. "Apologize to her right now. Beg her to keep you."
My heart was completely frozen.