He Called It For My Good I Left

Chapter 2

A room full of guests crowded over to watch. One woman stood at the very front, snickering behind her hand.

"As if being ugly weren't bad enough, now you're a drama queen too. Ugly people sure love causing a scene."

The Weaver relatives laughed along.

Spencer took my hand and walked me up to her, his voice low and even. "Her birthmark is natural. It has never hurt anyone. Your mouth, on the other hand, has hurt plenty of people. Today you crossed the line."

The woman turned bright red. After that, she disappeared and never showed up at any dinner I attended again.

And now, after one remark from Jasmine that I was too dramatic, he'd locked me in the bedroom, burning with fever.

People really can change that fast.

Early the next morning, I was finally let out.

Jasmine sat at the dining table like the lady of the house. "Ms. Gibbs, today was supposed to be for post-surgery recovery, but you skipped posture correction, failed emotional management, and had a 0% social attendance rate. You're still failing as a proper wife."

Spencer came out of the kitchen with a plate and murmured to me, "Jasmine's staying with us until you've recovered so she can supervise you full-time and turn you into a proper wife."

He pushed a plate of plain boiled broccoli in front of me. "Jasmine was up half the night making this low-calorie meal for your recovery. Don't let her down."

In front of Jasmine was a plated beef salad and a latte with foam art.

I didn't touch my fork.

It was the fourth day after surgery. The doctor had told me to eat more protein and keep my meals warm. And that plate of broccoli was cold.

Jasmine raised an eyebrow and spread her hands in a shrug at Spencer. "See? I was up until 2 a.m. making that meal, and she won't even look at it. She doesn't want to get better at all. She enjoys being ugly. Spencer, some people just can't be helped."

Spencer's jaw tightened. "Carmen, Jasmine stayed up until 2 a.m. making you a nutritious meal, and this is how you treat her? When did you get so dramatic?"

He had forgotten.

The year we got married, I had just gotten pregnant when he was in a car accident. At that life-or-death moment, I terminated the pregnancy to protect him. After that, my body never recovered. Cold food gave me terrible cramps, and I couldn't take even one bite. Back then, he cooked for me every day and even checked the temperature with a thermometer before he'd let me eat it.

I pressed my lips together and said nothing. I pushed my plate away and went back to the bedroom.

That night, I heard Jasmine's wounded voice. "She didn't even touch the broccoli. Spencer, I put my heart into that meal and got nothing."

"You can't go easy on someone like her." Spencer's voice carried a patience I didn't recognize, almost fawning. "I'll teach her a lesson."

The next day, I saw that the sticky notes that used to cover the fridge door were gone. There had been over 300 of them. He had put them up during my first year as a Weaver.

Who says your birthmark is ugly? It's your one-of-a-kind mark.

When you smile, you look better than anyone else.

Your birthmark is natural. So is your sweetness. Both are you.

Back then I was so insecure that I avoided every mirror in the house. But with his encouragement, every day when I opened the fridge for milk, I read one note and smiled. Slowly, I even dared to go down to the lobby for my packages without a mask.

But now the fridge door was bare. The 300-plus sticky notes had been replaced by two printed sheets. Next to them, my ugly pre-surgery photo was pinned in the most visible spot like a wanted poster. One sheet was a body fat chart. The other was a calorie chart.

Spencer stood in front of me with a cold expression. "Jasmine says you need a wake-up call."

I stared at him for a long moment. "What if I don't want to change? I'm fine with my birthmark. I liked myself the way I was."

Spencer's gaze slid away, and he swallowed. He seemed about to say something. But Jasmine quickly walked over and cut him off.

"Ms. Gibbs, that attitude is dangerous. You can't be selfish. Spencer gets mocked by his own family because of how you look. If you won't change on your own, I'll make you." As she spoke, she reached out and ripped the gauze off my face.