Episode 1

Daniel was bubbling with happiness as he walked into the office that day. He had a big smile on his face, and a spring in his step. He greeted everyone he met with a cheerful “Good morning!” and made his way to his desk.

He smiled as he remembered how Lisa had wrapped her arms around him last night, whispering “I love you” in his ear. He was sure that she was finally back to him, after months of drifting apart. He ignored the warnings of her family members, who had told him to leave her because he was poor but he believed that their love was stronger than anything, and that they could overcome any obstacle.

He sat down at his desk, and turned on his computer. He checked his email, and replied to a few messages. He had a lot of work to do for such a meager salary but he didn’t mind. He was in a good mood, and nothing could ruin it.

Or so he thought.

“Hey, you look happy today. Have great sex again?” Tiffany sneered at him from across the room. She was his colleague, and she often teased him about a lot of things. But he hated it when she talked about his marriage out in the open like that.

He felt his face flush with anger and embarrassment. He glared at her, and said in a low voice, “When do you ever shut up?”

She shrugged, and said with a smirk, “Not until I have something to say.”

She turned her attention back to her computer, and started typing something on there.

Daniel sighed, and tried to ignore her. He wondered how she knew about his sex life with Lisa but then He had only confided in Tom, his work bestie, who was also Tiffany’s boyfriend. He thought Tom was trustworthy, but apparently not.

“I thought I told Tom not to tell you my personal business,” Daniel said, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache coming on.

“Well, you can’t blame him. He never hides anything from me,” Tiffany said casually.

Daniel rolled his eyes, and continued with his work. He found it difficult to concentrate, because he kept thinking about how happy and excited Lisa was going to be when she saw all that he had planned for her.

It was their three-year anniversary, and he wanted to make it special. He had bought a bouquet of roses, her favorite chocolate, and a bottle of champagne. He had also booked a table at a fancy restaurant, where they could celebrate their love and reminisce about their happy memories.

He smiled as he looked at the clock on his computer screen. It was almost time to leave. He couldn’t wait to see Lisa again.

He closed all the tabs on his browser, and saved his work. He grabbed his coat and bag from the hook behind his chair. He was about to stand up, when Tom walked up to him.

“Hey man! What’s good?” Tom greeted him with their signature handshake.

Daniel smiled back at him, but he was in a hurry to leave.

“Everything’s good bro. I need to tell you something though. Your girlfriend keeps teasing me about the stuff I trust you with,” Daniel said, looking at him with disappointment.

Tom looked down at his shoes guiltily. “Yea… about that…” Tom made to speak but Daniel interrupted him.

“Don’t bother. Just don’t let it happen again,” Daniel said quickly.

He ran out of the office, without waiting for Tom’s reply.

“Hey where are you going? What about that drink we were supposed to have together?” Tom yelled after him.

“It can wait!” Daniel shouted back without looking back.

He hurriedly rushed to his car. He wanted to get home right on time to surprise Lisa.

He sped along the road, careful not to break any traffic rules. The last thing he needed today was a ticket or an accident.

He parked his car in front of their modest apartment building, and grabbed the gifts from the back seat. He walked up the stairs, humming a tune. He couldn’t wait to see her face when he opened the door and imagined her running into his arms, kissing him passionately, and telling him how much she missed him.

He reached their floor, and inserted the key into the lock then turned it gently, and pushed the door open.

“Surprise!” he exclaimed, holding the roses in front of him.

But there was no one to greet him. The living room was empty and dark. The only sound was the TV playing some sitcom in the background.

“Maybe she’s gone to sleep,” he muttered under his breath and decided to go into the room to check on her.

He walked towards the bedroom door, holding the roses in his hand. He hoped to see her lying on the bed, waiting for him with a smile.

“Honey,” he said softly as he reached the door. But before he could open it, he heard a male voice from inside.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” the voice asked.

Daniel froze, and felt his heart sink. Who was that? What was he doing in their bedroom?

His mind raced with different possibilities, but he refused to believe that Lisa was cheating on him. She would never do that to him. They loved each other.

He thought maybe it was a thief, and Lisa was in trouble. He felt a rush of adrenaline, and decided to act.

He burst into the room, ready to confront the intruder and save his wife.

But what he saw made him drop the roses in disappointment.

There were only two people in the room: his mother-in-law Gloria, and his brother-in-law Kevin.

They were sitting on the couch, facing him with smug expressions on their faces.

“Hello, Daniel,” Gloria said coldly. “We’ve been expecting you.”

“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

He looked around the room, searching for Lisa. But she was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re here to give you some good news,” Kevin said sarcastically. “Lisa has decided to divorce you.”

He threw a document at Daniel’s feet. It was a divorce agreement.

Daniel picked it up and scanned it quickly. It stated that Lisa wanted to end their marriage immediately, without any explanation or compensation. She had already signed her name at the bottom of the page.

“This is a joke, right?” he asked weakly.

He couldn’t believe what he was reading.

Gloria sneered, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No joke,” she said. “Lisa has finally come to her senses and realized what a loser you are. She doesn’t love you anymore. She never did.” She spat out the last word, as if it left a bitter taste in her mouth

“That’s not true,” Daniel said firmly. “She loves me. We love each other.”

He clutched the document in his hand, hoping it would disappear.

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh,” Gloria said scornfully.

She stood up from the couch, and walked towards him.

“She only married you because she was young and naive. She didn’t know any better. But now she does. She knows that you are nothing but a poor and humble employee who can’t provide for her or make her happy.”

“That’s not true either,” Daniel said angrily, turning to face Gloria. “I work hard to support us both. I don’t care about money or status or power. I only care about her.”

“Well, she cares about those things,” Gloria said cruelly. She had always looked down on Daniel, thinking he was not good enough for her daughter.

“She deserves better than you. Someone who can give her the life she wants.”

“Bullshit!” Daniel shouted, feeling his blood boil. “I’m calling her right now!” He picked up the phone and dialed Lisa’s number. He hoped she would answer and tell him this was all a mistake. He glanced at the papers again, noticing Lisa’s signature. It did look like her handwriting, but he was in denial.

“You don’t need to call her. Her signature is right there,” Kevin said with a wicked smirk.

Daniel ignored him and waited for the phone to ring. It rang for a while before it finally connected.

“Hello,” Lisa’s sweet voice said from the other side of the line.

“Hey baby,” he said softly, trying to sound calm. “Did you know your parents were coming to our house?”

“Yes, I did,” Lisa said coldly. She no longer sounded like the sweet and loving Lisa he used to know. She sounded distant and indifferent.

Daniel felt a chill run down his spine.

“And uh… and… and did you somehow sign any papers by mistake?” he stuttered, hoping against hope that she would say yes.

“What papers?” Lisa asked, pretending not to know.

“Divorce papers,” Daniel said, his voice breaking.

There was a pause on the line. Daniel could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

“Yes, I did,” Lisa finally said, confirming his worst fear.

Daniel felt like the whole world came crashing down on him. He wanted to drop the phone but he remembered it took him a lot of money and hard work to get that phone.

“Why?” he asked, tears streaming down his face.

“But I thought we… I thought our life was starting to get better… our sex life… was I that bad in bed?”

He regretted saying that as soon as he said it. He remembered his in-laws were there and he felt slightly embarrassed.

“Look, I…” Lisa started to speak but was interrupted by a male voice laughing in the background.

“Who is that?” he demanded, clenching his fists.

Who the fuck was with his wife at 9 PM at night?

He didn’t get a response from her.

“Lisa, who was that and where the hell are you?” he thundered, losing his patience.

“It’s nobody,” she lied, almost whispering.

Daniel knew she was lying. He could hear the guilt in her voice.

“Lisa, it’s our anniversary and you decided to do this to me?” he asked, feeling betrayed and hurt.

“Look Daniel, I have to go,” she said coldly. “We will talk about this in the morning.”

She hung up on him without saying goodbye or giving him a chance to say anything else.