THE BILLIONAIRE'S CINDERELLA WIFE

EPISODE 1 I wake up to the smell of something burning and it takes me a second to realize that I have left the cupcakes for far too long in the oven. I hastily jump to my feet and dash downstairs, almost knocking over objects along the way. As I enter the kitchen, I’m greeted by the smoke coming out of the oven, “oh no” I sigh and follow by saying a little prayer before pulling it open. I really hope my cupcakes are not scorched, well at least not all of them. I anxiously pull out the tray and it turns out, it was a little too late for any prayer to save my poor cup cakes, they are all burnt beyond recognition. I slam the tray on top of the sink, brimming with frustration, disappointment and my heart breaking, I bury my face in my hands for a long moment. I can’t even begin to calculate just how much money I have lost from these burnt cupcakes. I was supposed to take them to the bakery store where my father works and get them sold there, that is what I do every day. The little profit I make all goes to helping around the house so I can’t even afford to use a penny on myself. The money that my father makes is barely enough to pay the bills, let alone provide adequate food for his family. He tries to get extra cash by gardening for people during his off days and I usually help him because I worry that he is working way too hard without giving himself enough time to rest. That is not good for the body, he will age faster and he might even get sick but he doesn’t seem to care about any of that. “Ooh that looks...really bad,” I hear my mother say in a tone that suggests that she is not empathetic instead it’s a joke to her. I look up and I see her playing around with the scorched cup cakes and I wonder if she was in the house all along or she just walked in. “Mother...where were you?” I ask, “I was filing my nails in the living room, why?” she answers, glancing at me with blinking eyes. “You were in the next room from the kitchen and you left my cupcakes to burn...are you serious?” I gape at her. “Woh! Don’t come at me like that young lady, I’m not the one who asked you to leave your cupcakes in the oven while you fall asleep, am I?” She scoffs while twisting her lips. My eyelids flutter for a second as I take in a few deep breaths to try and stop myself from losing my cool, I’m repulsed by the words coming out of my mother’s mouth, not that it should surprise me, she has always been a selfish and irresponsible person. “I think you are forgetting that the reason I fell asleep is because I was exhausted, I’m always exhausted. Do I need to remind you that some of us have to work hard without rest to help put food on the table while the other grown up in the house is busy spending all the time and money obsessing over her looks? I work hard, it’s very normal for me to be tired but I don’t think you know what it’s like to be tired since you don’t bother to lift a finger,” I smirk. “You think?...Trust me I know what it’s like to be tired, as a matter of fact I am tired right now,” she says with her body leaning forward towards me and her eyes narrowed. “Of what?” I stare at her with amusement, I can’t think of anything that could make her tired since she does nothing all day. “I’m tired of your whining, it’s very annoying,” she responds. “Oh...okay...,” I begin to take the first step towards the exit because I don’t have time for this. She grabs my arm as I walk past her, I glance at her hand that’s gripping my arm and then I slowly look up at her with a puzzled expression. “We need to finish this conversation,” she says with a serious glint in her eyes. “Mother! I don’t have anything more to say to you,” “Good so just shut up and listen,” she forces me down to a chair. “Don’t you get tired of complaining like all the time? What is wrong with you? Yesterday morning you were complaining about having to wake up early to get Matt ready for school, today you are blaming me for your burnt cupcakes, makes me wonder what you are going to cry about tomorrow?” “I have every right to complain about waking up early every day to get your son, ready for school while you enjoy your beauty sleep!” I stretch out my legs and fold my hands across my chest. “Matt is your little brother, is he not?” “Yes he is but...” “Ah...ah...no buts! If you love your little brother then you wouldn’t be annoying the hell out of me by telling me what you do for him,” she retorts. “That’s not the point,” I scream, clenching my teeth and balling my fists. “There is no point,” she yells. “Yes there is, you can’t expect me to do absolutely everything in the house while you do nothing, that is not fair...I can’t play mother to your son and also play wife to your husband.” I scream out of growing frustration. I’m about to add more words to my sentence but a hot slap that lands on my cheek stops me and leaves me gasping with disbelief, my hand covers my poor cheek that is still burning with pain, that was one hell of a slap that I did not deserve. “What did you do that for?” I frown angrily. “Because you are too disrespectful, you can’t speak to me like that as if you are talking to one of your friends,” she shouts, her face scrunched up in a scowl and a finger pointed at me. “That’s funny since I don’t even have any friends because the responsibilities that are piled on me keep me too busy to have time to myself. I don’t even know who I am because you have never given me a chance to live, explore the world and get to discover what it is that I like,” I try to sound composed but my voice cracks and my eyes turn watery. “Oh please, don’t think I will be touched by those fake tears, don’t blame me for your miserable life, what more do you want me to do huh? I carried you and your brother in my womb for nine good months. You have no idea what that did to my body and as if that wasn’t enough, I was kind enough to breast feed you and since then my breasts have never been the same again. Then I had to change your diapers, bath you, feed you and do everything for you. Don’t you think I have done enough? I deserve a break,” She flips her fine, silky and shiny hair to the left side of her neck before turning to walk away. I don’t know if I should cry, get angry or laugh? My mother is a handful, no kidding, not so many women have a funny way of seeing things the way she does, she has her own crooked mind and she can’t even see it. Despite the daily quarrels and how annoyingly lazy and irresponsible she is, I still love her, she is my mother, she gave birth to me and my sweet little brother Matt. What I can never understand is what my father saw in her that made him believe she was fit to be his wife and the mother of his children, maybe it was her beauty that made him lose all common sense. I often wonder if there aren’t days when my father regrets the day he first laid his eyes on her?