Too Cheap To Buy Me Pads, Too Eager To Spoil His Coworker

Theater: NovelMaster  |  Language: English  |  NEW

Synopsis

My husband had an obsessive need to control everything.
He micromanaged my entire life, and for his sake, I gave up my career to become a stay-at-home mom.
At the supermarket, I tossed a twenty-dollar box of organic sanitary pads into the cart.
He frowned, snatched it back, and replaced it with a five-dollar generic bulk pack.
"This works just as well."
"Money doesn’t grow on trees right now. We need to save every penny."
That night, while he was in the shower, his phone lit up on the nightstand.
I glanced over and caught a glimpse of a payment notification.
Just minutes ago, he had wired twelve thousand dollars to a new female coworker.
A man who couldn't bear to spend twenty dollars on his wife had just handed twelve grand to another woman.
I didn’t scream, and I didn’t cry.
The next morning, I went into my online shopping cart and checked out every single item I had saved over the past three years—skincare, clothes, and that back massager I’d always wanted.
All on his credit card.
Then, packing up my baby, I moved straight into the little downtown condo I had bought before we ever met.
I hadn't even sat down in the apartment before my phone started buzzing.
His name flashed across the screen.
I answered, staying silent.
His voice came through frantic, laced with fury.
"Sadie! Have you lost your mind? You just charged almost six thousand dollars to my credit card! What the hell did you buy?"
I set the baby down on the couch and switched the call to speaker.
"Just some skincare, clothes, and a back massager."
"What do you need that junk for? You sit at home all day watching the kid! Return it right now!"
I let out a soft laugh.
"When you wired twelve thousand dollars to your female coworker, why didn't you think about saving money?"
The line went dead silent.
So quiet I could hear his heavy, ragged breathing through the speaker.
It took him several seconds to speak again, his voice dropping into a cautious hush.
"Did you go through my phone?"
"The screen lit up. I happened to see it."
He paused again, scrambling for an excuse.
"That money was a loan. She just moved to the city and didn't have enough for a rental deposit. It's not like she isn't paying me back. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?"
I leaned back against the cushions, holding my baby’s tiny hand.
"She didn't have rent money, so she asked a married man?"
"Why didn't she ask anyone else? Are you the only Good Samaritan in the entire office?"
"Sadie, watch your mouth."
"Then tell me, how should I put it?"
I pulled my child closer.
"I spent three years raising your child full-time. When I wanted a twenty-dollar box of pads, you sneered at the price and swapped it for a five-dollar bargain pack."
"Then you turn around and hand twelve grand to a coworker. Please, teach me how I’m supposed to understand that."
Silence stretched between us again.
"When did you find out?" he finally asked.
"That doesn't matter."
My voice was deadpan.
"What matters is that you should find yourself a divorce lawyer."
"What did you just say?"
"I said, I want a divorce."
Before he could get another word in, I hung up.
I flipped the phone to silent and tossed it onto the coffee table.
The screen flashed over and over as his calls poured in back-to-back.
I ignored every single one.
My baby kicked his little legs on the sofa, babbling and grinning up at me.
I scooped him into my arms and walked over to the window.
I had bought this small apartment on my own before marriage. It wasn’t huge, but it was more than enough for the two of us.
Back when I signed the papers, my mother had scolded me, asking why a young woman needed to buy real estate when a husband was supposed to provide a home.
Thank God I hadn't listened.
I leaned down and kissed my son's forehead.
Three years ago, I had a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in savings, combining my dowry and the money I'd saved from working.
Back then, he wanted me to pour it all into renovating his house. I hesitated, eventually only pitching in fifteen thousand for home appliances.
The rest stayed untouched in my personal account.
He used to bring it up all the time, complaining about why I kept so much money tucked away, acting as if I didn't trust him like real family.
I had simply held my ground.
Looking back now, that was the smartest decision I ever made.
Even with a divorce looming, I didn't have to worry about how we were going to survive.
We had met on a blind date.
Within six months, we were married.
Back then, he really was sweet to me, always driving through pouring rain to pick me up from work.
My mother called him a caring man, and I believed her.
At the time, I had a thriving career as a senior visual designer at a creative agency, bringing in around four to five thousand a month. Combined with project bonuses, my life was comfortable.
He earned less than me, but it wasn't bad. Together, we had plenty.
I got pregnant during our second year of marriage.
The morning sickness hit me violently, and I lost ten pounds in the first four months.
He acted like his heart was breaking for me, insisting I quit since he could easily provide for us.
"Just stay home, take care of yourself, and focus on the baby. I'll make the money to support our family."
His mother said the same thing.
My mother agreed.
Everyone told me that once a woman has a baby, she should stay home and look after her child instead of trying to be so career-driven.
So, I resigned.
Only after the baby arrived did I realize what staying home actually meant.
It was a never-ending cycle of feedings, diaper changes, and sleepless nights.
Whenever the baby cried at night, he would roll over and pretend to be asleep. I was so exhausted I could doze off standing up, yet I still had to drag myself out of bed to mix formula.
When I suggested hiring a night nanny, he complained it was too expensive.
"You're home all day anyway. Why waste money on an outsider?"Fine.
I swallowed my resentment.
As the baby grew and expenses piled up, he started scrutinizing every dime.
If the formula was slightly premium, he called me wasteful. If I bought our son a couple of new onesies, he claimed the hand-me-downs were good enough.
I hadn't bought a single piece of new clothing for myself in years. When my skincare ran out, I settled for whatever cheap baby lotion was on sale at the drugstore.
Until last week at the grocery store, when I grabbed that twenty-dollar box of pads.
He frowned at the price tag, plucked it out of the cart, put it back on the shelf, and grabbed a five-dollar generic pack.
That was the exact moment I knew our marriage was dead.
My son began fussing, rubbing his sleepy eyes against my chest. I gently patted his back, watching the sky outside slowly fade into dusk.
My phone lit up again.
Not a call, but a text.
"Where are you?"
I didn't reply.
A few minutes later, another text arrived.
"Sadie, what is wrong with you? Can't we just talk like normal people?"
I turned the phone face down on the sofa.
There was nothing left to talk about.
It wasn't like I hadn't given him chances.
I had held my tongue time after time, hoping he would change, telling myself our son was too young, convincing myself that this family was worth holding together.
But that twelve-thousand-dollar transfer had shattered my delusion.
It wasn't that he didn't know how to treat someone well. He just didn't care to treat *me* well.
A coworker he barely knew could get twelve grand from him without batting an eye.
While I didn't even deserve a twenty-dollar box of pads.
What was I to him?
An unpaid maid, a live-in nanny, an appliance that didn't require any maintenance to keep running.
I carried my son to the nursery crib and tucked him in with a light blanket.
Then I sat by the edge of the mattress and pulled up my banking app.
Over a hundred and thirty thousand dollars, completely untouched.
In the face of a failing marriage, this money was my armor.
I didn't have to beg for anyone's mercy ever again.
My phone buzzed again.
This time, a long paragraph popped up.
"Sadie, I was literally just doing a coworker a favor. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill."
"She's fresh out of college, struggling all by herself in this city. I just gave her a helping hand."
"Return those packages, bring our son home, and let's go back to living our lives. Do you really have to blow everything up like this?"
I typed two words and hit send.
"We're divorcing."
Around two in the afternoon, after feeding my son, I changed into fresh clothes to take him downstairs for lunch.
There was a shopping plaza right beneath my condo with a few decent restaurants.
The moment I pushed the stroller out of the elevator into the lobby, I saw two figures standing by the entrance.
It was him, accompanied by a young woman.
The coworker.
Catching sight of me, he marched over with a grim look on his face.
The girl hurried behind him, watching me with nervous, timid eyes.
She stepped forward, clutching an envelope stuffed with cash, and tried to shove it directly into my hands.
"Sadie, I'm so sorry! I really, truly am. I had no idea this would cause a misunderstanding between you two. I was desperate for rent money, and Sean was just being kind."
"I withdrew the whole amount in cash to give it back. Please don't fight with Sean over this. It's all my fault."
I glanced down at the envelope. Crisp hundred-dollar bills, freshly bundled with bank bands.
Twelve thousand dollars, down to the cent.
Sean stood beside her with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, his posture finally relaxing into smug confidence.
"See? The money's paid back."
"It was nothing to begin with, and you threw a tantrum. Alright, let's head home."
He pulled his hands from his pockets and reached out to grab my arm.
I took a step back.
Then I calmly slid the envelope of cash straight into my purse.
"I'll take the money."A relieved smile broke across his face. Assuming the storm had passed, he reached for me again.
"Alright, alright. Let's go home."
I didn't budge.
"I'm keeping the cash as compensation for my wasted time. But the divorce is still happening."
His smile froze.
Beside him, the young coworker looked on the verge of tears, anxiously waving her hands.
"Sadie, it's really not what you think! Sean and I are strictly professional, we never—"
"I know," I cut her off.
She blinked, stunned.
"I know nothing has happened between you two yet."
I looked straight into her eyes.
"That's not the point."
I turned my gaze back to him.
"The point is, to you, a girl you barely know matters more than your own wife."
"You didn't hesitate for a second to drop twelve grand on her, while I wasn't even worth twenty dollars for basic hygiene products."
"Sadie," his expression darkened.
"And as for you,"
I redirected my focus back to the coworker.
"You're not entirely innocent either. If you couldn't afford rent, there were dozens of people in your office. Why seek out a married man to borrow a massive sum?"
"If your intentions were completely pure, why didn't you want me to know about it?"
Her face flushed crimson, her lips trembling without a comeback.
I steered the stroller around them.
"I've said my piece. I'm getting lunch. Care to join?"
The two of them stood frozen on the sidewalk, their faces pale and humiliated.
He didn't speak. The girl tugged at his sleeve, whispering, "Sean, maybe you should go home. Don't fight with her anymore."
Without looking back, I pushed the stroller toward the plaza.
Behind me, his muffled, furious voice called out, "Sadie!"
I lifted a hand, waving flippantly without breaking stride.
I treated my baby to a fantastic meal.
Whenever I used to eat out with him, he would whine if the bill topped fifty dollars.
Today, paying with his money, the food tasted exceptionally sweet.
My son sat in the high chair happily making a mess of his mashed potatoes, and I gently wiped his cheeks with a warm cloth.
My phone vibrated endlessly against the tabletop.
Every notification was from him.
"How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?"
"Can you show some maturity? My coworker was standing right there! Couldn't you give me some dignity?"
"You never used to be like this."
"I swear, if I'd known you were this kind of woman, I never would've married you."
I took a slow sip of miso soup, finished it, and finally typed a reply.
"Then perfect. Let's get divorced so you don't have to suffer anymore."
After lunch, I strolled leisurely back to the condo with the stroller.
When the elevator doors dinged open on my floor, I stopped dead in my tracks.
He was sitting on the floor right outside my front door.
His tie hung loose around his neck, his shirt sleeves were haphazardly rolled up to his elbows, and his hair was an unkempt mess.
Hearing the elevator, he lifted his head.
His eyes were bloodshot, his face pale and worn, looking like he'd been sitting there for hours.
He slowly pushed himself up, his voice raspy. "When did you become so heartless?"
I didn't answer. I pulled out my keys to unlock the door.
He shifted slightly, clearing a path, but didn't leave.
I opened the door, wheeled the stroller inside, and turned to block the doorway.
"Anything else?"
He stared at me, an unreadable storm brewing in his eyes.
"Do you really want a divorce that badly?" he asked.
"Yes."
I leaned against the doorframe, my voice flat.
"Every single day I spend around you makes me sick."

Chapters (3)

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Watch & Promotions

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