Her Wasted Love

At a family dinner celebrating Allison Bullock, my stepdaughter's acceptance into one of the city's top high schools, I stood in the kitchen slicing sea bass while listening to the conversation outside. One relative laughed and asked, "She's such a smart girl. I wonder which side of the family she takes after?" My husband, Tobias Bullock, took a sip of his liquor and smiled. "I have to thank my ex-wife, Alyvia Livingston, for that. Her family is full of top scholars." My knife slipped, burying itself silently into the cutting board. Seven years. I was his current wife. I was the one who had spent every day supporting his gifted daughter. Yet in his story, I wasn't even worth mentioning. It was as though every sacrifice I'd made over the past seven years had been thrown away on people who never appreciated it. I rinsed the fishy smell from my hands and slowly dried them. From today on, I was done serving this family. Chapter 1 The laughter in the living room grew louder with every passing moment, mingling with the clinking of glasses and the relatives' endless compliments. Tobias Bullock sat at the center of it all, his smile never leaving his face. He reached over and ruffled Allison Bullock's hair, his tone full of pride. "Our girl's worked hard. She earned this." Allison smiled sweetly, as docile as a kitten. "That's because you taught me so well, Dad." I stood quietly in the corner of the room, a dishcloth clenched in my hand. My fingertips were cold from soaking in water. Everyone in the room talked about Tobias's accomplishments and praised Allison for being such an outstanding student. Not a single person mentioned everything I'd done. It was as if I were the most unnecessary person in the house. "Sofia, why are you still standing there?" My sister-in-law, Tessa Bullock, interrupted my thoughts. "The stew's getting cold. Go heat it up." She ordered me around as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I lowered my head and answered softly, "Okay." Carrying the pot, I headed for the kitchen. However, my elbow accidentally bumped the storage shelf beside me. Crash! The sharp sound instantly silenced the laughter in the living room. It was the vase Allison kept on the shelf. Her mother, Alyvia Livingston, had bought it for her after she'd been accepted into Willow Creek High, one of the city's top high schools. Allison treasured it like her most prized possession and never even allowed me to touch it. Now it lay shattered across the floor. My heart sank. I quickly set the pot down and crouched to pick up the broken pieces. Before my fingers could reach them, someone slammed into me from behind. I stumbled forward, my stomach crashing into the sharp corner of the coffee table. A gasp escaped my lips as pain shot through my body. "Are you blind?!" Allison glared at me, her eyes red with fury. "My mom gave that to me! Can you even afford to replace it? Keep your filthy hands off it!" Tobias barked a second later, his face filled with disgust, "You can't do a single thing right. All you ever do is make more trouble." His words were like an icy blade driven straight into my heart. The pain in my stomach mixed with the ache in my chest until my whole body trembled. As I instinctively pulled my hand back, one of the porcelain shards sliced across my fingertip. A bead of blood welled up, mingling with the water on the floor. It hurt. Not my finger but my heart. It felt as though an invisible hand had clenched around it and was squeezing tighter and tighter until I could barely breathe. The laughter in the living room soon resumed. To everyone else, it had been nothing more than a trivial interruption. Tobias simply turned to Allison and smiled. "It's okay. If it's broken, it's broken. I will buy you an even nicer one." Tessa clicked her tongue as she looked at the shattered vase. "Sofia, honestly, you're so clumsy." I said nothing and quietly wrapped up the broken porcelain. Then I picked up the mop and slowly wiped away the water from the floor, one stroke at a time. When I looked up, the living room was warm, lively, and filled with laughter. But none of that warmth had ever belonged to me. In this family, I was the maid, my husband's accessory, and the woman his daughter dismissed as someone who couldn't do anything right. For seven years, I'd played my part in this absurd farce. I'd had enough of being the Bullocks' maid. And today, I was done. … I didn't go back to the living room. Instead, I returned to the bedroom and quietly closed the door behind me, shutting out every last trace of laughter on the other side. I was Tobias' second wife. Allison was the daughter he shared with his ex-wife, Alyvia. They divorced when Allison was three years old. When I met Tobias, he was a single father raising a young daughter by himself, and his life was a complete mess. Back then, Allison had just started elementary school. She was always dressed in dirty clothes. Chapter 2 Back then, she was nothing like the proud little peacock she was today. Tobias taught at Willow Creek High and was constantly swamped with work. He barely had time to take care of Allison. At the time, Allison ranked near the bottom of her class. Every day after school, she would lock herself in her room without saying a word. On the day Tobias and I got married, I took Allison's little hand in mine and said gently, "Allison, from now on, I'm your mom. I'll take good care of you." She looked at me for a long moment before giving a small nod. When Tobias was working himself to the bone trying to earn his promotion, his eyes bloodshot from countless late nights, I looked at timid little Allison and made up my mind to quit my job and devote all my time and energy to this family. Later, Tobias was promoted. Allison smiled more and more, and little by little, her grades began to climb. Tobias used to praise me often. "Thank goodness I have you. I don't know what would've become of Allison without you." Back then, Allison was still shy, but she'd reach for my hand on her own and call me "Mom". But everything began to change after Alyvia reappeared in our lives. Alyvia was Tobias's ex-wife and Allison's biological mother. At some point, she started contacting Tobias more and more under the pretense of visiting Allison. Every weekend, she'd pick Allison up and take her home with her. I didn't know what she said to Allison during those visits. Little by little, Allison grew more distant. By the time she reached middle school, that distance had turned into open hostility. At first, Tobias would scold her, but after it happened often enough, he started telling me instead, "Ally's still young. She's just going through a rebellious phase. Try to be patient with her." The bedroom was dimly lit, and my heart felt just as heavy. After what felt like forever, the house gradually fell quiet. The relatives had probably all gone home. The bedroom door swung open. Tobias walked in, smelling of liquor, irritation written all over his face. Looking down at me, he demanded, "What's gotten into you? We still had guests here, and you hid in the bedroom. What kind of behavior is that?" I said nothing. "Allison's about to start at Willow Creek High. This is an important time for her. She's emotionally sensitive." He kept lecturing me without waiting for a response. "She made one offhand comment, and you had to sulk and embarrass everyone?" I looked up at him. "I wasn't." "Ally's about to start high school..." I'd held my anger in for far too long, and it finally boiled over. "She's your daughter, not mine." My voice was steady, colder than it had ever been before. "You've already planned every step of her future. From now on, you can raise her yourself. I'm done." The words were like a match tossed onto gasoline. Tobias exploded. His voice rose sharply, dripping with sarcasm. "Sofia, you sit at home all day without earning a dime, living comfortably off me. Now you don't even want to take care of the kid anymore? So what exactly did I marry you for?" I froze and stared at him in disbelief. So this was how he saw me—just a woman living comfortably at home while he paid the bills. I'd poured every ounce of my time and energy into this family, and in return, all I got was one dismissive sentence. "So what exactly did I marry you for?" I slowly lowered my head. My voice was hoarse. "You're right. I'm useless." With that, he turned and headed for the door. "Tobias." My voice was barely above a whisper. "We should get a divorce." The room fell deathly silent. He paused for a moment before letting out a mocking laugh. "Sofia, knock it off." Just four casual words made it seem as though I was only throwing a tantrum to get his attention. He turned and walked away without another glance. "I'm serious. I want a divorce." I shot to my feet. Just as Tobias was about to speak, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket. The screen lit up. I caught the contact name clearly: "Kiddo's Mom." Alyvia Livingston. I had no idea what she said on the other end of the line. Tobias only replied with the occasional, "Mm-hmm," and "Okay." When the call ended, he didn't spare me so much as a glance. He walked straight out the door. Chapter 3 The next morning, Allison stood in the middle of the living room with a small rolling suitcase. The moment she saw me walk out of the bedroom, the corners of her mouth turned down in annoyance. "I'm going out." She didn't even bother looking up, speaking as though she were informing a complete stranger. As her legal guardian, I asked anyway, "Where are you going?" She looked at me with undisguised impatience before letting out a scoff and lifting her chin. "You seriously think you're my mom? "You eat my dad's food, live in his house, and spend his money. Your job is to make sure I'm happy, not stick your nose where it doesn't belong!" To Allison, my entire existence in this family depended on Tobias, as if I were nothing more than a parasite living off the Bullocks. I looked at the hostility written all over her face. Oddly enough, I felt a flicker of relief. At least, she wasn't my biological daughter. Just then, the front door opened. Tobias was back. He reeked of alcohol, his expression darker than I'd ever seen it. Hearing Allison's raised voice, he barked impatiently, "What's all this yelling first thing in the morning?" Allison immediately ran over to him as though she'd found her protector. "Dad! You're finally back! She won't let me go out. She's trying to control everything!" As she spoke, she shot me a smug, provocative look over Tobias's shoulder. He frowned and turned to me. "If Allison wants to go out, let her go. Stop making such a big deal out of every little thing." I stood where I was, watching the picture-perfect father and daughter before me. The whole scene felt absurd. I wanted to tell Allison that if the law didn't make me her legal guardian, I wouldn't care whether she went on a trip or flew to the moon. But the words never left my mouth. Forget it. There was no point. From now on, they could walk their own road together. … Back in the bedroom, I knelt in front of the closet and started packing. There wasn't much to take. Most of it was things I'd bought with my own salary before we got married. After that, I'd been too busy taking care of Tobias, making sure he had everything he needed, and supervising Allison's schoolwork. I hadn't even had time to go shopping. For the past seven years, my entire life had revolved around two people—Tobias and Allison. Somewhere along the way, I'd forgotten about myself. As I emptied the bedside drawer, my fingers brushed against a stiff sheet of paper. I pulled it out. It was the marriage agreement we'd signed all those years ago. The edges had yellowed with age, but every word was still perfectly legible. Looking at it now, it wasn't a marriage agreement at all. It was a contract hiring a live-in maid who never got paid. A bitter smile tugged at my lips as my fingers trembled. I was about to throw it away when I noticed a black notebook tucked underneath. The moment I opened it, I froze. Every page was covered in Tobias's handwriting. "March 12 — Sofia's dental filling: $500." "April 22 — Sofia's medicine: $120." "May 8 — Shampoo: $35." "June 15 — Sofia bought fruit: $42." Every dollar I'd ever spent—from my dental bills down to a single bottle of shampoo—had been meticulously recorded. I stared at line after line of expenses. Then I laughed. After packing the last of my clothes, I zipped up my suitcase. Dragging it behind me, I walked out of the bedroom. Tobias was the only one in the living room, sitting on the couch. The moment he saw my suitcase, annoyance flashed across his face. "What do you think you're doing?" Before he could accuse me of throwing another tantrum, I spoke in a calm voice, "Mr. Bullock, your free maid officially just quit." He blinked, as though he couldn't quite process what I'd just said. "What?" "Meet me at the courthouse tomorrow morning at eight. Don't disappoint me."