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 managed to navigate both worlds , ever so smoothly balancing the very 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 my lovely twins, while evenings saw me enthusiastically burning the midnight oil in the study , sorting through financial reports, and pitching ideas that would generate millions for the company, yes I was the Donna woman,a versatile wife , the whole 1000 yards _ or so I thought .

I was really proud of our life, our success, and of him - my husband. 

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 blissful marriage and a future full of love and loyalty. Together, we were the power couple in every sense, we were couple goals for most people. He was the Handsome charismatic CEO, and I was his Beautiful strategic second-in-command, eagerly pushing him to new heights .

Everything I did or even wished for knowingly or unintentionally in the last eight years was for him and our family but I never saw what was coming, the greatest shock I'd received in a very long time , but then again, maybe I should have.

So , it was a normal Tuesday afternoon , our twins, Lily and Maxey had just started kindergarten that day , and I had spent the morning taking first day at school photos of them and kissing their cute little faces goodbye.

The next day - Wednesday would be Alexander's birthday. We would have some guests come over later , this meant I would need to go to the grocery store to get some things in preparation to celebrate another new year added to my husband no o. So I went back upstairs to have a quick shower, then I moisturized and got into a nice pair of baggy Fashion Nova Jeans and a Saint Laurent sweatshirt and made my way out of the house. On my way to Give and Takes Supermarket, I made a mental list of the things I needed to buy, its a fifteen minutes drive to the store, I went in and bought some Turkey, spices and vegetables with a few bottles of wine . Then I walked into the luxury clothing store just a few shops away but on the same block to pick up something nice for the love of my life , after all tomorrow is his birthday and I wanted to buy him a nice fashionable piece of clothing for his birthday this year.

As I walked down the aisles of clothing, I carefully scanned through these expensive clothing items, I picked out a fine Italian Olive colored Todd Snyder Jacket.

As I drove away from the store, I couldn't help but observe how busy life was in this city, Everyone on their way to Hussle and bussle, trying to make ends meet. A few blocks from the store, I noticed an antique store, they must've opened recently as I doubt that I'd seen this store on this street before, I do most of my grocery shopping at Gives and Takes. I decided that I would go in and have a look so I parked at the front and went Inside. I checked out the store and my eyes caught a beautiful set of twin marble bowls and cutlery - they had really nice stuff and I wouldve loved to continue feeding my eyes for a little longer , I caught a glimpse of a Mercedes 300SL and moved closer to feel it. I needed to get back home on time to continue with my preparations for my husband's birthday dinner tomorrow and to finish up some presentation slides that I was working on for an upcoming meeting. With this realization, I picked up the marble set paid for it and went back home.

When I got home, I set the things I'd bought on the table and went upstairs.

Alexander was in our bedroom, as soon as I walked in, he barely raised his eyes to look at me when he handed me the stack of documents. "I will need you to sign these" he said, without even an ounce of emotion. I assumed ,it was some new contract, perhaps an agreement for the new venture we'd been discussing.

But lo and behold, I saw the word "divorce" staring back at me in bold 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, Cherry . 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 and mind 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. " So ,what am I then ?"

He smirked and looking at me with a cold, calculating expression that chilled me to the bone, he answered ,"You're my Ex-wife, Cherry. "

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.