Chapter 4
I said, "Go home? John, I already signed the divorce agreement just like you wanted, and left with absolutely nothing. Now you expect me to go back to the place you share with Melanie?"
On the other end, John was momentarily speechless.
But after just a second, he pulled himself together and snapped back.
He said, "Is that why you're mad? Because I made you walk out with nothing?
"You didn't get any of the assets, but it's not like you have any use for money anyway."
How ridiculous.
I shot back, "John, I still have to survive. How can you say I don't need money?"
John raised his voice as soon as I shot back.
"Just because we're divorced doesn't mean you'll go hungry. And I let you keep a room in the house, didn't I? Why would you even need money?" he snapped.
John just kept going, getting more and more worked up.
He said, "You just stay home and take care of us. You're nothing like Melanie, who's always buying makeup, pretty clothes, and designer bags.
"You wear the same clothes for ten years and don't even care about jewelry. Seriously, what do you even need money for?"
My hand shook as I heard that.
In his eyes, I was someone with no needs at all.
Or maybe, someone whose needs didn't matter one bit.
I wasn't about to let him keep putting me down.
Without another word, I hung up and blocked him, along with Eric and Alice.
Helena called out to me from outside.
I took a deep breath, steadied myself, and headed out quickly.
I thought maybe I'd been too loud and disturbed her.
Turned out, she was just about to buy some fruit online and wanted to know which ones I liked.
I froze for a moment.
Over the past thirty years, no one, except Peggy, had ever bothered to ask what I liked to eat.
I almost didn't know how to react to such kindness.
"Anything's fine, really. I'll just have whatever's in the house. I'm not picky at all," I replied.
Helena paused for a moment and then casually asked, "What about your ex-husband? What does he like to eat?"
"Apples, but he can't have them cold, so I always had to steam them for him," I answered.
Helena continued, "And your son?"
"Watermelon, but only if it's seedless," I replied.
"And your daughter-in-law?" Helena asked.
"Strawberries, but she only eats the very tip of each one," I replied.
Helena sighed.
"See? You know exactly what everyone in your family likes, but you don't even know what you like yourself," she said.
Her words made me freeze for a moment.
I never even realized their likes and dislikes were etched into my bones.
I always put what they wanted first, always ignoring how I felt.
It was this habit of not caring about myself that made it so easy for them to toss me aside like some trash.
I ended up as a wife and mother who was just there, but never really mattered.
"I've already placed the order," Helena said, flashing her phone at me with the confirmation page.
It totally caught me off guard.
She literally ordered every kind of fruit the online supermarket had.
Apples, pears, bananas, oranges, tangerines, grapes, durian, mangoes, longans, watermelons, and so on.
Helena grabbed my hand when she saw how puzzled I looked.
"It's November 18th, 2025. Let's see what kind of fruit Susan White, age fifty, really likes," Helena said with a grin.
So she bought all that fruit just for me.
Helena was single by choice. She had no husband, no kids, and she liked it that way.
Before I moved in, I was worried she might be a bit eccentric.
Turned out, that was just how people judged women who stayed single.
A woman could shine, even if she was on her own.
Half an hour later, the coffee table in the living room was piled high with all kinds of fruit.
With Helena egging me on, I finally let go of my hesitation and took a bite of an apple.
I tried the sweet ones and the sour ones. None of them really did it for me.
The longans were way too sweet for me, and the mangoes didn't have enough flesh.
Time flew by as I spent fifteen minutes sampling every kind of fruit on the table.
To my surprise, the one I actually liked was that famously smelly durian.
"Susan, next time you're at the fruit shop and they ask what you want, just say durian," Helena said.
I nodded firmly, and my tears dropped before I knew it.
I was overwhelmed with emotion.
And I couldn't help but think of Peggy.
She was trapped in an arranged marriage, always dismissed by her husband, her son, and even her grandson.
If only she'd met someone like Helena, maybe she wouldn't have spent her whole life just going through the motions, never truly living for herself.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I opened the door, and my mind went totally blank.
Two cops were standing right there at the door.
And they were here for me.