For ten years, I , Cherry Golden Rich was the perfect wife, the perfect employee, and the perfect mother. I prided myself on how seamlessly I navigated both worlds , smoothly balancing the demanding projects at Rich Oils with the never -ending domestic responsibilities at home.
Early mornings would find me in the kitchen at 4:00 am cooking breakfast for my husband and lovely twins, while evenings saw me enthusiastically burning the midnight oil, sorting through financial reports, and pitching ideas that generated millions for the company, yes I was the Donna woman, versatile wife , the whole 1000 yards _ or so I thought .
I was proud of our life, our success, and of him. Alexander -the man I had loved, the man I would grow old with, the only man who rocked my world for as long as I remember, who promised me a future full of love and loyalty. Together, we were the power couple in every sense. He was the Handsome charismatic CEO, and I was his Beautiful strategic second-in-command, pushing him to new heights . Everything I did knowingly or unintentionally was for him and our family but I never saw it coming the greatest shock I'd received in a very long time , but then again, maybe I should have.
It was a normal Tuesday , our twins, Lily and Maxey had just started kindergarten that day , and I had spent the morning taking first day photos and kissing their cute little faces goodbye. Alexander had been in or bedroom, he barely looked at me when he handed me the stack of documents. "I need you to sign these," he said, without even an ounce of emotion. I assumed it was some new contract, maybe an agreement for the new venture we'd been discussing.
But lo and behold, I saw the word "divorce" staring back at me in black ink, I froze.
"What's this?" I asked Alexander, with my voice hollow.
And without caring to look at me "I am in love with someone else," he said, his eyes scanning the office like he had more important matters to tend to. "You can leave now. I don't want her to be called a mistress."
I felt the world shift beneath me. After ten years? Why would he do this ?what did I do? What have I ever done all these years apart from love him, sacrifice everything in my life and put my whole heart into building a life with this man and his family?.
There I stood , too stunned to speak and my hands trembling as I clutched the papers, then with the faintest voice, all I could muster was a single question. " what am I then ?"
He smirked and looking at me with a cold, calculating expression that chilled me to the bone, he answered ,"My Ex-wife."
The days following this revelation felt like a blur. I moved through life as if I were on autopilot, going through the motions but feeling utterly torpid and detached from reality. My heart was just numb, and my mind refused to process the enormity of what had happened. Alexander had left me for Claire his assistant ,a younger, prettier version of myself, perhaps more compliant and less opinionated.
The twins, too young to understand the gravity of the situation, continued to ask me where their father was, and I, having to be the best mother I could had to force a smile as I reassured them with lies. Alexander had moved out, leaving me with the sprawling mansion that now felt too big, too cold and just too empty.
I was a shell of my former self, walking through the rooms filled with memories, now tainted by betrayal. Every corner of the house echoed with laughter that once was but now was a painful reminder of what had been lost.
And then there was work. Alexander and I built the company together, but now I was just an employee, watching from the sidelines as Claire paraded around, taking my place both at home and in the office. Her smug glances, the whispers from colleagues, the pitying stares—it was all too much. But I held on, determined not to crumble. I couldn't afford to.
But even the strongest of walls crack under pressure, and one fateful night, after putting the twins to bed, I stood on the balcony of my penthouse apartment, looking down at the busy city streets below. The weight of everything crushed me. The thought of a life without purpose, without love, without him—was unbearable.
I didn't think twice. I just stepped off.