2

Gabriel was too stunned to speak when he heard his wife’s request. It was as if the universe was against him. He was supposed to be happy in two hours, snuggled up on their bed in their small apartment, which her mother paid for and provided adequate comfort for them.

“What do you mean?” Gabriel managed to ask.

“Are you that stupid? I said I want a divorce, and I hope we finalize it before the sun sets tomorrow.”

Gabriel felt a large lump in his throat as he tried to figure out where he had gone wrong. Lily had a taste for luxury, and while he had never been able to provide it, he was doing his best.

“Lily, please, I am on my way home, and I hope we can resolve this.” She hissed in response to his words.

“Frankly, I do not care if you get run over by a bus or kidnapped. I want a divorce, and when I get the papers ready, you better put those ugly signatures there,” she said, and he hung up right away.

This was all too much for him to process, and he refused to believe Lily would harm him. He had to see her physically and watch her spew everything at him.

Gabriel rushed out of the office after the call and went straight home. He did not know what was going on, so he had to see for himself.

When he arrived home, he expected to see a sad wife, but found Lilly dressed in a very revealing gown.

“Where are you going, dressed like this?” He asked, his brows contorted.

“What does it look like?” I am going on a date.”

“No wife of mine will... “

“Ex wife,” she said, looking at him. “You are so eager to claim me as your wife, but you can’t provide a thing. How pathetic.” She shook her head.

Gabriel sighed and remained silent for a while as he watched her reapply the lipstick. He knew that arguing with her would do him no good.

“I made some money today, and I can buy you a dress for the party tomorrow. Our anniversary is also tomorrow.”

He said this, and Lilly paused for a moment before laughing loudly. Gabriel noticed that Freda, Lily’s mother, had entered the sitting room at the same time and was dressed similarly.

“Well, I need ten thousand dollars to purchase a dress. Maybe if you have that, I will consider you.” Lily said, and Gabriel sighed, dipping his hands in his pocket.

Of course, he did not have that much, but he had something. Gabriel took out the two hundred dollars he made in three weeks and handed it to Lily.

“Here is two hundred dollars. I am sure it’ll get you something nice for tomorrow.” He said, and both mother and daughter burst out laughing.

“Mother, can you see this? Lily inquired, showing the notes to her mother. I believe Gabriel wants us to restock the toiletries in the house.” She said, and they continued to laugh.

“Do you know what party I was invited to? Your bosses’ party! Brittany invited me and I am a VIP. You want me to look haggard on the table?” She spat.

“No, I will not be going with you, so you do not have to worry about looking bad.”

“Of course, how does a cheap shot like you think they will make it to such a party?” Lily inquired, then tore the two hundred dollars and tossed them in Gabriel’s face.

Her actions pricked his soul, and he immediately regretted giving it to her. His father was dying, and while two hundred dollars was nothing in comparison to the pile of bills, he could have bought a decent meal for his father.

“Unless you can raise ten thousand dollars tonight, I am done with you.” She said to Gabriel and turned to leave.

“I am sorry, Lily, and I promise to make it right.” He said, reaching for Lily’s hand, but Freda yanked his hands away.

“Enough! Haven’t you done enough?” She yelled, startling Gabriel.

“My daughter has patiently waited in poverty for you to improve. I knew I should have prevented her from marrying someone as worthless as you.” She spat, and Gabriel remained motionless for a while.

“You have barely contributed to this house, and you keep making flimsy excuses about your father. If he’s that much of a problem, then why don’t you kill him off? Let us have some peace!” Freda barked, making Gabriel look so small.

She was right; he depended on them but his family had never humiliated him so much in a day.

“I would have urged you to hire a lawyer, but you cannot even afford a mediator.” She said.

While Gabriel was still struggling to cope with the humiliation, a car pulled up in their compound and the door swung open to reveal Daniel dressed in an expensive suit.

“Baby,” Lily exclaimed in a sultry tone, throwing herself at Daniel.

Gabriel watched Daniel grope Lily’s ass and kiss her with his tongue.

“For years, I have struggled to feed because of you. You have been nothing but a menace in my life and I used to think I wasn’t pretty enough and the universe was punishing me by giving you to me, but I know better because Danny is here now.” Lily said, stroking Daniel’s beard.

Daniel smirked at Gabriel before pulling Lilly away from his body.

“Go wait in the car, baby girl.” He said to her, and she nodded as she walked out of the house with her mother.

Daniel approached Gabriel and took out a few dollars.

“If only you had three thousand dollars, you could have your woman.” He said, rubbing the notes against Gabriel’s face.

“Too bad. I will have to fuck her again. She is too attractive and sweet to be with a worthless slave like you. You should hear the way she says my name when she moans.” He said, rolling the dollar notes back into his pockets.

When he turned to leave, Gabriel managed to mutter, “Why?”

“Next time, think about who you mess with in the company.” Daniel said, and then he left Gabriel, who was on his knees, tears streaming down his face.

Yes, his life was sad, but he had never experienced such pain. Everyone hated him except Lily. She used to be the apple of his eye and his staunch supporter, but now that she was gone, the world made no sense to him.

The next day, Gabriel awoke with a swollen eye from crying. The buzzing of his phone woke him up, and it bothered him so much that he wanted to throw it away. He realized he was still on the living room floor, where he had fallen asleep. When he remembered he had lost his wife because of his poverty, he felt a cloak of shame fall over him.

He was twenty-five years old today, but he was poorer than ever before, with nothing. He groaned as his phone rang again. When the call ended, he picked up the phone to discover that it had come from an unknown number.

When he swiped up and entered his password, he was shown a series of text.

“Happy birthday, young Master.”

“Pick up, sir; your father wants to speak with you.”

Finally, his eyes caught sight of an alert.

An alert of five hundred million dollars in his account.