The CFO Wife He Threw Away

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01

After I had the baby, Bruce Delgado told me to stay home and be a full-time wife. He'd support me, he said.

I believed him. I quit my job as CFO, a seven-figure salary, gone.

During my recovery month I wanted to visit my parents, and he washed the car right away and drove me over.

He hit the gas.

"Gas money, a hundred. I'm taking it out of next month's allowance, all right?"

After the baby was born, I got exactly three hundred dollars a month for spending money. Add another twenty if I slept with him.

I wanted to buy a bottle of water. He docked two dollars from my allowance.

Our daughter went into the incubator. He docked two hundred eighty from my allowance.

My milk duct clogged and I spiked a fever. I begged him to take me to the hospital. He just looked at me, cold.

"Your allowance this month won't cover a hospital visit."

But I'd caught a glimpse of his phone.

He'd wired fifty-two thousand to his ex-girlfriend. Caption: Happy Birthday.

I stared at the eight dollars left in my allowance.

And suddenly I thought, this marriage, I could just end it and be done.

My chest throbbed. My eyes stung from the fever.

But I still saw it clearly, the girl in his chat wallpaper, smiling bright as a flower.

The ex he'd dated for seven years before he married me.

I rocked the baby, who wouldn't stop crying, my arms so numb I could barely feel them.

Bruce stared at his phone screen, the corner of his mouth curving up.

I was too weak for more than a whisper.

"Can you advance me next month's? I really can't hold out."

"Next month?"

His eyes swept over me and went back to the screen.

"Next month it's Amber's dog's birthday. I've got to send a gift. You'll have to budget."

I held the baby, patting his back over and over.

Before we married,

I said I wanted the new Cartier bracelet, and he didn't blink, spent half a year's salary, bought it.

I said I wanted a discontinued Montblanc vintage fountain pen, and he ran to seven antique markets, bought it.

I teased him once: "What if I wanted a star out of the sky? Would you go get that too?"

A few days later, a certificate arrived from NASA.

From then on there was a star up there called YinYin.

But ever since I had the baby and quit the seven-figure job,

three hundred dollars a month was all I got.

Not just my expenses. The baby's food, clothes, everything, all of it had to come out of that three hundred.

Tears blurred my vision.

"Then why can you wire fifty-two thousand to Amber Perez?"

I couldn't keep the crack out of my voice.

Bruce lifted his eyes to me.

"I wronged her back then. I just want to make it up to her a little. Don't get jealous over nothing."

He patted my shoulder. He made no move to take the baby from my arms.

"Besides, a clogged duct is common. Women of the older generation just tough it out. You don't need a hospital."

I clenched my teeth. "I want to go to the hospital."

He looked me up and down, his gaze stopping on the wet patch soaked through my left side.

He frowned. "You want to go out looking like that? You're not embarrassed?"

"You always love getting jealous over Amber. Take a good look at the gap between the two of you."

In his heart, Amber was the red rose, the pure moonlight.

I was the smear of blood on the wall, the disgusting grain of rice stuck to his shirt.

His disgust went into me like a needle straight through the heart.

I didn't answer. I turned and went back to the bedroom.

My back against the door, my legs gave out, and I slid down to the floor.

I stared at the account balance for a long time.

Eight dollars. Enough for a standard clinic ticket.

When I'd changed clothes and came out, Bruce was still on the balcony, smiling into a voice call.

"If you can't sleep, I can come keep you company."

"I've put the baby in the master bedroom," I said.

"Your mother said she's almost here. Watch him until she comes."

He was enjoying the call too much to even turn his head.

Outside, a fine drizzle was falling.

I walked along the roadside, and the wind blew against me, cold to the bone.

I pulled my clothes tighter.

The hospital was maybe a mile away, but it felt like I'd been walking a lifetime.

My steps grew heavier.

Rainwater slowly soaked through my pant cuffs and kept climbing.

My legs went weak, my feet like they were sinking into cotton.

As if the next second I'd lose my footing and drop right there on the road.

A taxi came by, and I forced my arm up and flagged it down.

I leaned my head in the window.

"Sir, can you take me to the hospital first? My family will pay you when I get back."

I lied to him. The truth was, no one at home would pay either.

I was so nervous my heart nearly climbed into my throat.

The driver curled his lip at me in disgust.

"No money and you're hailing a cab? Get lost, now."

I clung to the window and fumbled to unlock my phone. "I can borrow it. I can borrow the money."

My hand shook so badly I couldn't hold it still.

I scrolled through my whole contact list.

After I became a so-called "full-time wife," there were no more coworkers, and my old friends had stopped reaching out.

There was still only Bruce's number to call.

The call connected fast.

"Hello?" Amber's voice, soft and lilting, laced with a smile.

"He's in the shower. Who's this?"

I hung up right away.

Amber's number was the only one saved in Bruce's contacts.

He said it was a promise they'd made back when they were dating, to only save each other's number.

He said he couldn't be a man who broke his word.

But the promises he made to me.

He promised he'd keep his distance from Amber, that he'd take care of me and the baby, that he'd be with me forever.

Not one of them did he keep.

Rain ran down the edge of the window and into the car, and the driver rolled it up.

My hand got caught in it, and somehow my heart didn't hurt as much anymore.

When the taxi pulled away, it splashed mud all over me.

I don't know how long I walked. My body had gone numb.

The edges of my vision darkened, the sounds around me drifting further away.

On the way, I dialed that familiar number.

"Mr. Finch, I want to come back to work."

What Mr. Finch said back to me, I no longer know.

02

When I opened my eyes again, I was looking at a hospital ceiling.

A nurse came over.

"You're awake? What were you doing coming in alone with a fever like that? Whoever dropped you off is already gone."

"Who brought me in?"

A name rose up in my mind.

"A woman. Kind of heavyset. Said she found you on the side of the road."

Not him.

"You just gave out from exhaustion. You'll be fine once you've rested. The doctor took a look. Your fever's from a clogged milk duct. Letting the baby nurse would help, but you really should get it checked."

She handed me an exam slip.

I made myself look at the number at the bottom.

Thirteen hundred forty-two and change.

A fortune.

Afraid of what the room charges might come to, I sat in a chair in the lobby once I could stand, with no idea where to go.

Maybe I should just do what Bruce said and tough it out.

A familiar figure came into view.

Bruce.

He clearly hadn't expected to see me here. His body gave a visible jolt before he walked over.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to the hospital? Your hair's soaked."

I'd told him a dozen times before I left. He'd been busy chatting with Amber and hadn't heard a word.

He frowned, as if he were worried about me.

"You'll catch a cold from the rain, and that costs money."

"There isn't much left of this month's pay, and I'm planning to send the dog to that pet school. Don't make more trouble."

The dog was Amber's.

His concern about my getting rained on was that if I caught a cold, I'd eat into the dog's tuition.

He borrowed a towel from the nurse and dried my hair, gentle about it.

I let out a cold laugh. "Have you forgotten how you got your job?"

His hand stilled. He looked at me seriously, then laughed softly.

"You still think you're the CFO who got me hired?"

"What you are now is the family maid, at best."

He gave my nose a light pinch, his voice going soft, like he was coaxing a child.

"I had something going on right then, and you just had to go out anyway. I was scared to death."

"You didn't pick up either. I called several times."

I glanced at my phone. There were three missed calls.

"Is the fever down?"

He stepped closer and reached out to touch my forehead.

"Still a little warm," he said, frowning.

"What did the doctor say? Is it serious? Did they prescribe anything?"

While he asked all that, his eyes flicked to something behind me.

The door to the ultrasound room was still shut.

"They did."

I held out the bill for him to see.

He glanced at it, one eyebrow rising. "Thirteen hundred?"

He folded the slip and handed it back to me.

"Trudy, thirteen hundred would wipe out the dog's whole tuition. He's food-aggressive. If he bit Amber, that would be serious. Can't you just tough it out?"

His face was all tied up as he said it, and he didn't look like he was joking.

"A clogged duct... I'll treat it for you at home... can we skip this? Please?"

I looked down at the state of myself.

"Go pay the bill for me." My voice was flat. "Or we get divorced."

He looked at me for two seconds. "You're threatening me with divorce again?"

The last time I'd used divorce to threaten him

was one month into my pregnancy, when he stayed out all night and I cried into my pillow until morning.

Later I found out Amber's dog had gone missing, and he'd spent the whole night helping her look for it.

"This isn't a threat this time. It's notice."

He stared at me for a moment, as if working out whether I meant it.

Then he opened his phone and tapped a few times.

Something like hope stirred in me. I thought, he still can't bring himself to divorce me after all.

My phone chimed with a message.

A transfer of twenty dollars.

"IOU for this time, I'll owe you the payment. Remember to add it back for me later."

I stared at that mocking twenty dollars. So sleeping with him had a set price after all.

I was worth less than one percent of a streetwalker.

At least the doctor had said it wasn't anything major.

Most of what the bill listed was tests and things to ease the pain.

Letting the baby nurse more would clear it up on its own. It was just the mother who'd suffer.

I crushed the bill into a ball.

No exam.

I couldn't stop myself from asking him:

"You said you'd come find me once you were done. So why did Amber pick up when I called you just now?"

He paused, his eyes drifting upward.

"Amber had just asked me to go walk the dog with her. She probably saw the call and answered it."

I watched him lie. "You take showers while you walk the dog?"

Bruce scratched his head and said nothing.

I got up to leave, and he hurried after me.

"You're not getting it treated?"

"No."

"See, I told you it didn't need treatment. You wouldn't believe me."

He looked proud of himself and patted my head.

"So sensible. Once the dog's food aggression is fixed, I'll tell Amber it was all thanks to you."

A wave of nausea went through me.

"Come on, it's not safe to take a car this late. I'll drive you home."

I turned and looked at him, confused.

"Drive me home? You're not coming back?"

He paused.

"I've still got some business to deal with. After I drop you off I have to go handle it."

Before we left he glanced at the ultrasound room again.

I caught it and asked him, "Is there something over there?"

He shook his head and didn't answer.

03

He pulled open the passenger door, and the moment I slid in, a sweet scent hit me.

Gardenia. Amber's usual perfume.

A pair of matching luck-bead charms hung from the mirror. I'd never seen them before.

The passenger seat had been adjusted too, so cramped I could barely fit.

Clearly Amber had ridden in this car far more often than I had.

My whole body was resisting it, but it was already past midnight, and I had no money left for a cab.

The car pulled out through the hospital gates.

I took out my phone and saw the offer from Patrick sitting in my inbox.

Same position. Seven-figure salary.

The car was silent.

Then his phone rang, cutting through it.

The dashboard lit up, and I caught two words: "Amber, sweetie."

He swiped it away fast.

Took the call on his phone instead. "Mm? Go ahead."

His voice carried a tenderness that had never once been mine.

I couldn't hear what she said on the other end. Probably some cooing.

The corner of his mouth curved up, and he laughed a little. "Stop it, I'm driving."

She said something else, and his smile vanished.

He hung up and pulled the car over to the curb.

"Something urgent came up at work." His tone was flat. "You get out here."

"Amber's looking for you?"

"Trudy, it really is an emergency at the office."

He turned to look at me, like it pained him.

"I have to head over right now. You can grab a cab home, right?"

"Amber calls, and off you go.

I'm running a fever of a hundred and four, and you won't take me to the doctor.

It's raining, and you're dumping me on the side of the road?"

His face went dark.

"Trudy, that's enough."

His voice shot up all at once, his color livid.

"I told you it's work.

You don't have a job, so you don't know how hard money is to make?

If I don't work, you and the kid both starve, is that it?"

I looked at the twisted expression on his face.

The "I'll provide for you" from back then had become "you're mine to feed" now.

"You're the one who told me to quit."

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms, and felt no pain at all.

"Right, I told you to quit."

He let out a cold laugh.

"I told you to quit so you could take care of our son. Did you take care of him?

He's still at home crying right now.

You don't even have any milk for him,

you spend all day pointlessly jealous over Amber,

money's not your worry anymore, so what more do you have to complain about?"

I just looked at him.

Then, as if something clicked, he sent me another twenty dollars.

"That's for your cab fare. Now go."

He waved a hand and shooed me out of the car.

When it came to a doctor for me, he wouldn't part with a cent.

In a rush to see Amber, though, he could suddenly afford the fare.

As he swung the car around and passed me,

he leaned his head out the window again. "Text me when you get home."

I didn't answer.

Back at the house, it was strangely quiet.

I went in and eased open the door of the master bedroom.

Empty.

A bad feeling rose in me.

I spun around and hurried to the second bedroom.

A thread of crying came from a corner of the room.

I followed the sound. The baby was on the floor.

He'd tumbled out of the crib, wrapped in a thin blanket, dropped onto the ground.

He'd cried until his voice cracked, the sound coming in broken gasps.

To go see Amber, Bruce had actually left our not-yet-two-month-old baby alone in the room.

04

The baby's face had gone blue from crying so long without air.

I held him tight against me, straining to feel his heartbeat.

The tiny body twitched once in my arms and let out a whimper.

I sat there on the floor. Outside, the rain kept falling.

I pulled out my phone.

One unread message. Bruce, just now: "Home yet?"

I pressed the screen dark.

His small hand had a fistful of my collar, as if he were afraid I'd leave again.

By the time he finally slept, I was wrung out to nothing.

Outside, the sky was turning gray with dawn.

The ache in my left breast still hadn't eased.

I opened my social media feed.

Amber's post sat right at the top.

"A new little addition to the family."

The photo was a pregnancy test. Two lines.

And below it, a comment from Bruce:

"All these years, I'll always be your rock."

The location tag was the hospital I'd gone to tonight.

I started laughing then, no sound at all, laughing until the tears ran down my cheeks.

Amber was pregnant. With my husband's child.

It was so absurd it was funny.

All at once I understood why he'd been waiting outside the maternity ward tonight,

why he'd hovered at the door of the ultrasound room, words caught in his throat.

Amber was inside.

He hadn't been looking for me, not once, from beginning to end.

The person he was waiting for had always been Amber.

Fine. Let the marriage end.

I opened the suitcase and packed up my things and the baby's.

Then I called Mr. Finch.

"The signed offer confirmation is already back in your inbox."

I hesitated, then said it: "Could you lend me two hundred dollars first? I want to take my son and leave Bruce."

Mr. Finch was one of the few people at the company who knew about Bruce and me.

Three seconds of silence on the line.

"Lend you... two hundred? Trudy, the investment calls you used to make were measured in the hundreds of millions."

There was a smile in his voice.

I gave a bitter one back. "Married the wrong man. Believed the wrong words."

He laughed softly. "All right. I've advanced your first month's salary. Get your strength back, and come in whenever you're ready."

My phone chimed. A hundred thousand dollars, credited to my account.

The second Mr. Finch hung up, it rang again. Bruce.

"Trudy, the company just told me they're firing me."

He sounded frantic.

"You used to be close with Mr. Finch and the rest of them. Find out for me what's going on. I still need this job to support you and our daughter."

To support Amber and her baby, more like.

Because I looked at my luggage.

The clothes: bargain-bin stuff, twenty-one dollars a piece.

The formula: near-expiry cans, fifty-one apiece.

I'd seen his shopping history once. All that Burberry, all that Chanel.

I'd thought it was a surprise for me.

Then I met Amber, standing polished and radiant at Bruce's mother side,

and I finally understood that none of those clothes had ever been mine.

Neither had Bruce.

I gave a cold little laugh. "Any chance they're firing you for your personal conduct?"

He caught the jab, but he didn't dare turn on me right now.

"Stop it. I hear the termination letter's just missing the CFO's signature. Go ask, quick, find out who took your position."

I looked at the termination letter that had just come through the fax.

He was right. It was only missing the CFO's signature.

I hung up, gathered my son, and walked out without looking back.

This time, I called for an Uber.

Bruce drove home in a foul mood, foot flat to the floor the whole way.

The moment he stepped inside, his mother came running out of the bedroom.

"Bruce, Trudy and the baby are both gone!"

His stomach dropped.

She handed him an envelope. On the front it read: To Bruce Delgado.