At our lowest point, I survived on a single bowl of congee a day. Wilfred couldn't even afford that—he drank tap water to fill his stomach.
I'd held him and cried, my heart breaking for him. But he was the one drowning in guilt.
"I'm sorry, Athena. I've made you suffer so much. I swear I'll build something. I'll make you the most envied Mrs. Rivera this city has ever seen."
He kept his word. He caught the right wave, founded his company, and in just five years, built assets worth over a hundred million.
But I never became that envied Mrs. Rivera. I'd bowed ninety degrees to pour wine for clients just to land a deal.
To cut costs, I handled inventory, cleaning, loading and unloading—all of it fell on me, the boss's wife.
I didn't own any expensive jewelry. Just that one diamond necklace—bought with his very first profits, a gift to me.
And now it hung around another woman's neck.
The heat drained from my face. Something inside me went cold, degree by degree.
The light refracting off those diamonds stabbed at my eyes.
I looked away and spoke slowly. "No matter how rough it's been, at least I earned it myself. What about you? Being hidden away like a dirty secret—that can't feel good either."