Chapter 1
On my first day back at work after giving birth, I unexpectedly saw my husband giving his secretary a bottle of perfume.
I immediately contacted a lawyer and sent him a divorce agreement.
When my husband received the divorce papers, he immediately drove eight hundred miles to pull me out of a meeting.
“You’re a mother now. Can’t you control your temper? Divorcing me over a bottle of perfume? Is that even worth it?”
I broke free from his grip, disgustedly brushing off his sleeve where he had touched me and calmed my tone.
‘Isn’t a bottle of perfume enough?”
On my first day back at work, I got stuck in traffic. When I finally rushed to the office, the meeting
was supposed to attend had been cancelled.
The secretary stood before Felix Borgia with an expectant look on her face. He smiled faintly, :ook a bottle of perfume from behind him and held it before her.
The young woman was clearly surprised and immediately wrapped her arms around Felix’s neck and hugged him tightly.
‘I just mentioned it offhand, but I didn’t expect Mr. Borgia to actually remember it. The scent is even my favorite!”
The blinds were open and the young women, who had read too many romance novels, mmediately looked at me with envy at this scene.
‘You know what? Secretary Gwen and Mr. Borgia really make a great couple. He’s handsome and she’s beautiful. It’s like a teenage romance novel coming to life.”
‘Secretary Gwen is so kind. She’s nothing like the previous Mrs. Borgia, who made us revise a proposal three or four times. If Secretary Gwen becomes the president’s wife, I can’t even magine how happy we would be.”
‘Once a woman has children, few remain beautiful. Some turn into hags, others into fairies. Mr. Borgia knows how to choose.”
Every word the employees said echoed in my ears and my heart felt like it was being squeezed by a rusty hand. The pain was so severe that it caused me to struggle to breathe.
I leaned against the wall to steady myself, barely managing to avoid losing control.
After a moment, I calmly walked into Felix’s office.
Gwen Courtet followed my gaze towards Felix’s office and smiled, then asked, “You must be the boss’s wife, right? I saw your ID photo on the staff roster. I never expected you to look so different from the photo!”
I feel scoffed. “Are you implying I’m ugly? You have no taste at all. I wonder who was blind enough to hire you.”
Gwen immediately reached out to grab my hand like a child who had done something wrong, but I dodged her.
Her eyes welled up with tears, which fell like pearls on a broken string.
“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. You can hit me or scold me, but please don’t take it out on Mr. Borgia.”
Felix blocked her behind him. “You’re almost thirty. Don’t get angry with a young girl.”
I looked at the bottle of perfume on the table. Felix followed my gaze and explained, “During my business trip to Kyiv City, Gwen helped me a lot. This bottle of perfume is a reward for her. Don’t think too much about it.”
I sneered and sat down on the sofa.
“You just bought it on a whim and it’s the same as Gwen’s. You and Gwen really are on the same wavelength.”
I remembered the year I graduated from university. I bought a custom-blended perfume for myself at a cultural and creative store for sixty dollars, intending to surprise Felix.
But he pushed me away, as if he had smelled something disgusting.
“It’s too overpowering. Go wash it off.”
“You’re really something. We’re trying to save money to start a business. If you keep going this way, when will we even have our own studio?”
“Helena Walpole, when did you become so materialistic?”
I was so shocked. I couldn’t even remember walking into the bathroom and turning on the
shower.
All I remember was crying for a long time that day, tears mixing with the shower water as I curled up into a ball and cried silently.
Even though he pushed me away that night and banged my wrist on the hard corner of the table, I couldn’t bear to see him blaming me for my crying.
