Molly's sense of contentment didn't last long. The next day, she brought Calvin's favorite takeout to his store and discovered something extremely disturbing.
"What do you mean he doesn't work here anymore?!" she screeched at the employee who told her the impossible.
"…I'm really sorry but Calvin quit back in June. I have absolutely no idea where he's working these days. Why don't you try texting him to get his work address?" the poor employee who was way out of his depth suggested.
"No, you don't understand! We live together; how could he have lied about this for more than four months?!"
"No clue, lady. If it makes you feel any better, I always thought the guy was a jerk."
As the connotation sunk in, Molly's heart shattered. If Calvin lied to her about this, there had to be somewhere else he was going. All of that overtime had been completely made up. He was living off of her money and doing…what exactly?
"This can't be happening," she moaned before bursting into tears and fleeing the store to the safety of her car.
She hyperventilated for a while, not caring that the food went cold, and was fairly certain she cried her tear ducts out. Only then did she feel safe to drive herself home.
When Molly stumbled through the front door, Vanya immediately noticed something was wrong and panicked, rushing over to steady her. "Molly! What happened to you?! You look like you're going to faint!"
At this small sign of concern from another human being, the tears she thought she had run out of began flowing again with a vengeance. She threw herself into her housekeeper's arms as she sobbed and tried getting the story out around it.
Vanya very gently led her to the couch and held her as she cried it out without saying a word. Once she was more coherent, she was able to tell the horrible truth of the matter in a way her friend could understand.
Those red eyes flashed murderously. "I knew there was something wrong with him! Let me take care of this."
Molly sniffled and looked up at her with a hint of worry mixed in with her heartache as she remembered a conversation from the day before about enemies. "Don't do anything to him. Just…can you find out where he is? I need to know before I make a decision on what to do next. Find him, don't let him see you, and then report back to me."
A thought occurred to her. Was this even within Vanya's massive skillset? She was Super Housekeeper not a private investigator.
"Actually…do you even know how to track people down?"
"Oh yes," she replied grimly. "I have plenty of experience tracking prey. I'll do as you ask and won't let him know I'm there. But there's something I need to do first."
Molly couldn't even ask what that was before Vanya zoomed off and came back with a glass of water, a blanket, and the TV remotes. She expertly wrapped her charge up like a burrito of sadness and left her to lie on the couch.
"Drink all of that before I come back. I'm turning on something funny for you. Don't worry about a thing, Molly. I will find him and give you a full report," she said before speeding out the door.
Left in a daze, Molly continued to cry even as she thought about how her housekeeper was efficient as ever. Would she truly be able to find Calvin considering his fiancé had no idea where he might be? And would she be able to stop herself from seriously injuring him in the process? Vanya had looked like she was out for blood.
She was so out of it that she didn't know how much time had passed when Vanya returned with barely concealed murderous rage lurking in her expression. She was afraid to ask. Whatever it was must be bad.
Mustering all of her courage, Molly cleared her throat and asked, "Did you find him?"
"Yes. I…I don't want to upset you so I'm not sure how much I should say. His lies to you were more extensive than you originally believed."
Of course they were. She had an inkling of what was going on but needed the truth confirmed if she was ever going to figure out what to do about it instead of pretending like things were normal.
"Tell me, Vanya. All of it."
"It appears that in the time that worthless piece of scum hasn't been working he has been living elsewhere with a pregnant woman. I overheard them talking and…I'm so sorry, Molly. He has been seeing her for quite some time but after discovering she was pregnant and you won the lottery, he was planning on marrying you for your money only to divorce you and use it to support his family and never work again," the housekeeper said with genuine fury running through her voice.
Well. At least one person was loyal to her. Molly began laughing hysterically that she could even think such a thing at a time like this.
She couldn't believe it even though she had no reason to doubt Vanya's words. She had never been anything but helpful and seemed firmly planted on Molly's side. And it did make a horrible sort of sense, all things considering.
How stupid had she been thinking someone so totally out of her league would ever be interested in her, let alone want to marry her? The woman he was cheating with was probably a lot prettier, funnier, and generally better than a mousy bookworm like her.
This was going to hurt worse but she had to know. She spoke up in a trembling voice. "Vanya, did you get any pictures?"
"Of course I did; evidence is important. But are you sure you want to see?" Vanya asked worriedly.
Molly nodded and she handed over her phone. The pictures consisted of Calvin and a pregnant woman who looked like she could be a model. Everything about her was like the upgraded version of Molly. Her hair was golden blonde and perfectly styled, her features were striking, and she had womanly curves.
Unable to handle it, she shoved the phone back and burst into tears again. The last scrap of hope she had been holding onto that these were all just a series of horrible coincidences was squelched with heartbreaking finality.
Calvin was cheating on her. Who knows how long he had been doing it. He also planned on using her financially—no, he already had been!
Unfortunately for her, that would be hard to prove in court. That scumbag shouldn't get away with what he had done but she had no power. All she could do was lock him out and toss his stuff into the street when he came over later. Maybe she should shove the cake she painstakingly made him in his face too.
It still wouldn't be enough. Nothing would. She felt completely hollowed out and yet the tears kept flowing. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic! Her father was right that she wasn't lovable after all.
"Molly, what do you plan to do? I'll make it happen for you without you having to lift a finger as long as I know what you want," Vanya said seriously.
Do? What could she do?
Wiping her eyes, Molly thought about it. She needed to change the locks and clean out all of his stuff but didn't have the emotional fortitude for that right now. Her incredibly efficient housekeeper could take care of those things for her though.
"When he comes over later, I want to toss all of his stuff out at him. The locks need to be changed before he arrives too. Can you take care of it?" she asked wearily.
Vanya gently squeezed her hands. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll handle it. First, let's get you taken care of. I think you need a nice long bubble bath and then a nap. I'll get everything done while you're resting."
Molly didn't bother protesting as the surprisingly strong housekeeper scooped her up as if she was a rag doll and carried her to her bedroom before running a bath, setting up aromatherapy candles, and even starting a soothing instrumental music playlist. All she had to do was get in the tub.
She stayed inside until the water turned cold before toweling herself off and crawling into bed. Then she cried even harder because this was the bed she had shared with Calvin. Her next order of business was getting this stupid thing replaced and completely rearranging the room. Maybe even switching rooms. That might be better.
When she finally collected herself enough to go back downstairs, she looked rather pitiful and puffy eyed in her long-sleeved purple pajama shirt with fuzzy pink and purple plaid pants and soft slipper boots. She went to get a rag dipped in cold water to try and reduce the swelling but Vanya gingerly took it from her hands and began doing it herself.