Ruby's Revenge

ChapterThree

Three days to the wedding

Ruby

“Ruby!” I heard Henry thunder.

I looked up from my phone to see Henry standing over me, holding a stack of documents. “what’s this?”

“what’s what?”

He threw it at me. I looked at it “oh. It’s my resume and stuff. I’m applying for-“

“cancel it.”

“ excuse me.” I stood up

“is this a joke? You want to work in- in a bank.” He spat out the words, face twisted with disgust.

“okay baby. Calm down. You know I had a job back in Seattle. But seeing as I now live here with you, I need to-“

“ you don’t need to do anything. Women from my family don’t work”. He said. “No wife of mine is going to work as a banker. What does that say about me? About the family?”

“you’re being unreasonable right now.”

“listen Ruby. I’m about to go into politics. Now, your duty as my loving wife is to support me. Haven’t you learned anything from being around the rest of my family? We men work while you women take care of the homes and-“

I could not believe what I was hearing.

“if you’re living in the nineteenth century ,I suppose that’s fine. But this is the freaking twenty first century and-“

“Twenty first century.” He scoffed. “You think if I left you on your own you would survive. On what exactly? The peanut salary of an accountant? Hm? Don’t fight me on this. You won’t win. You are nothing. I gave you everything and I’m about to make you something. So if I were you, I’d listen to whatever I say and heed to it like a good little girl. You don’t want you family going back to begging for scraps, do you?” he said cruelly, “tear up those things. I don’t want to hear any nonsense about you working. Ever again.”

Henry had never, ever reminded me of what he had done for my family. This was the first time he had ever pointed it out so bluntly. It made me so ashamed and yet I knew that this wasn’t going to be the last or second to the last time. What was I doing? I’d sold myself for a better life for my family.

My soon to be husband and his family didn’t respect me. I was going to be pushed around and expected to be a good, little house wife. What about my five year accounting degree ? The summa c*m laude I’d been so proud of? I buried my face in my hands and wept.

I knew the sort of person Henry was. He’d never raise his hands on me. That wasn’t the way the rich and powerful operated. The amount of events we would have to attend together couldn’t be done if I had scars lining my body.

Men like him attacked with words, stripping you of your confidence. Stabbing you exactly where they knew it would hurt. Henry knew I was a proud person. For a long time while we were dating, I couldn’t even accept things from him. I’d always told him I didn’t want to look like a gold digger. The only thing I’d ever accepted from him was the scholarship for my siblings and the job for my dad. And now it was his weapon of choice.

I wanted someone to hold me and tell me it would be alright. But I was alone. I’d been uprooted from my life and placed here where I knew nobody. The only people available to me were my fiancée’s relations-

And Charlie.

I suddenly remembered the family black sheep that I had met the other day. I picked up my phone and dialed her number without a second thought.

“hello? Ruby?” She asked.

“Hey.” I sniffled

“Are you okay?” Her voice was tinged with concern.

“no. Not really.” I admitted.

“Do you want to come over? I’ll text you my address.” She hung up.

A minute later, my phone buzzed with her address.

And that was how I found myself at Rita’s apartment telling her everything while I sobbed. We sat on her couch , eating Pringles while I tried my best to explain my dilemma.

“I don’t know what to do”

“it’s more complicated than I had originally thought. To be honest girl, I wondered whether it was the whole wealth and glamor that was keeping you there but you don’t seem like that kind of person. Now I understand”

“and I can’t even tell my mother. She loves me. She will surely tell me to leave him but what about months and years from now when she’s counting her last dollar and thinking about how we missed this big opportunity. Will she resent me? What about my siblings? When they can’t go to the schools they want or- I’m just so confused. I can’t even bear spending one more week with him, Charlie. I can’t possibly spend the rest of my life with him.”

“You don’t need me to tell you to leave him or not. You need to decide for yourself so that when you think about it months from now you’ll know that it’s exactly what you wanted. I’m sorry, but all I can do is be here for you and tell you that no matter what you choose, I support you. A hundred percent. And if you need someone’s shoulder to cry and vent on. You’ve got me. Always”

“thank you so much” it was the most honest thing I’d said all week.

“just know that I’m also going to demand a shoulder and Pringles from you some day.” She winked.

I laughed “there’s no problem” our meeting was unusual and the circumstances that surrounded our friendship wasn’t a good one from any angle, but I was glad to have someone like Charlie on my side. She spent the rest of the night distracting me from my problems. We watched old movies and ate all the junk food we could get our hands on. This, I thought was what friendship was all about.

But at the back of my mind, I knew I still needed to make a decision about my impending wedding.

Two days from now, I’d either be saying I do to a man I had come to resent or I’d be walking away from a sure life. A life of leisure and bliss for me and my whole family.

Was me walking away from Henry being selfish to my family? Was I depriving them of their one chance at a good life just because I couldn’t endure being with a man that had no respect for me and allo

wed his family to treat me like dirt?