The Ex-Wife's Revenge

Chapter One : Rack and Ruin

Trigger Warning: This post discusses warning signs of suicide and may be distressing for some. Please take care of yourself and reach out for support if needed.

“This can't happen to us, David! This can't be happening!” my mom screamed hysterically.

I had no idea what was going on. One moment I was asleep in my room, and the next thing happened, I was suddenly awake by my parents yelling at each other again.

Still half-asleep, I dragged myself to the living room to figure out what was happening. It’s probably 4 in the morning, and I have class later. Why do they always choose the worst moments to fight? It’s been like this for weeks, every time they’re both home, all they do is argue. I’m tired. No, I’m so sick of this.

“What’s going to happen to us now, huh? This is all your fault! You never should’ve joined that stupid company!” my mom cried, her voice trembling as she threw whatever she could grab at my dad.

“Alicia, being mad at me won’t fix anything so f*****g stop!” my dad shouted. I hated this. Where’s the happy family I grew up with?

I stood behind them, clearly visible, but they didn’t stop at all. Maybe they didn’t care. Or maybe they just couldn’t anymore. They threw insults at each other like there is no love left between them. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. They’re not like this when they fight before, they always choose to understand each other no matter how big their fights are. I still didn’t even understand how big of a problem they were fighting about. .

“You’re telling me to stop huh? Don’t you forget that it was because of your stupidity, everything we have is gone! Gone, David! What kind of life do we have left now? Maybe you can tell me to stop when you actually have a solution for this.” She laughed bitterly, her eyes full of rage.

“I did it for you. For us!” my dad snapped. "If you hadn’t been wasting our money on all that pointless s**t you buy for yourself, maybe I wouldn’t have felt the need to chase more!”

"Mom! Dad! Please, stop... Can you fight when I'm not around? Please?” That’s all I could say before storming out, sobbing. I don’t want to add up myself to the issue, I just want them to stop it at least, just today.

I slammed my door shut and forced myself to sleep, even though I knew I had to be up in an hour for class. I knew the fighting had stopped and God knows I did everything to at least sleep, but I couldn’t find myself to drift off.

“Are you sure you're okay? You can skip class. I’ll send you my notes later,” Ava said, her face full of concern.

I showed up at school with swollen eyes and a pounding headache from overthinking. Skipping class sounded nice, but with finals coming up in just two months, I couldn’t risk it. We were so close to graduation.

But my mind couldn’t stop looping the argument from earlier. What money were they talking about? Are we really losing everything, like Mom said? I didn’t know what kind of mess my family was in but I am scared to find out.

The day passed in a blur. I had been thinking so hard, I barely noticed time moving. But when I got home, one thing became painfully clear: something was seriously wrong.

Half of our maids were gone, and if I am not mistaken, the things my mom said this morning might actually be true.

I saw her coming down the stairs carrying a large box. The maids offered to help, but she shoved them away with a look of disgust.

“Don’t touch these with your filthy hands! I don’t want my things losing their value, do you understand?!” she snapped.

I was stunned. This... wasn’t my mom. Not Alicia Gonzales, the woman I knew with grace, humility, and has respect to everyone regardless of status. Her hair looked unkept and she’s still wearing the same dress she wore yesterday. What had happened to my mom? She hates making herself look unpresentable to anyone.

“Mom, what’s going on? Please, calm down...” I wrapped my arms around her. She looked exhausted. Lost.

“Oh, Hera... you’re here,” she said, dazed. “I’m planning to sell some of our things. Maybe we should go through your room too find stuff you don’t use anymore. We could get a lot of money for it.” She was staring at nothing as she spoke, scratching at her arms, something she only did when severely stressed, and it’s been years since I saw her like this.

A tear rolled down my cheek not because I might lose my things, but because of the state she was in. Is this really about money? I could live without the luxuries. What I couldn’t survive was losing both of them.

“Mom, let’s go to your room, okay? You need to rest. We’ll talk about this later,” I said gently, wiping my tears and offering a smile.

“Okay, darling...”

She drifted off to sleep after I gave her a bath. While I sat beside her, I’m still thinking about everything. What went wrong? When did everything fall apart? I just wanted things to go back to how they were, us on the patio, chatting like nothing could shake us. God, I missed my family so much.

Lost in thought, I barely noticed it was already dinner time. I rubbed my temples, hoping the tension would ease.

Then our maid burst in, gasping for breath, eyes wide with terror.

“M-Miss Hera! S-Sir David’s...” she stammered.

I froze. I didn’t want to hear this. Not now. Not today. Please, no more bad news...

“I-I think your father’s dead... in h-his room... I was about to call him for dinner, and I—I—”

She couldn’t even finish. My heart dropped.

I ran. My legs trembling, my hands shaking. I pushed open the door to my dad’s room...

And there he was.

My dad, who is as precious as my mom, hanging there. Lifeless.