Three Years Underwater Gambling My Life, His Punishment for Her Dog

I'm the only female commercial diver in the country. To pay off Joseph Delgado's debt, I made 499 descents in three years, a hundred meters down into slurry to work the pilings.

Every dive was a gamble with my life, and my body carries the damage that will never heal.

I was bleeding from every opening in my face and still couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the decompression chamber. I clutched the twenty thousand I'd just earned and rushed to Joseph, desperate to pay down the debt. That was when I heard him talking with Ruby Chase.

"Joe, you spoil Pudding way too much. Flora Henson's just allergic to dog hair, so she wouldn't let Pudding in the house, and you turned around and played broke and sick to fool her for three whole years."

"You even sent her off to do something that dangerous, something grown men won't touch. If she ever finds out, won't she hate you?"

Joseph answered lazily.

"No. Flora's a lovesick fool. She won't have the heart."

"When she's hit the bottom five hundred times and earned Pudding a clean ten million, the punishment's done."

"After that I'll just give her a kid to make up for it. A little coaxing and she'll be fine."

Ruby let out a soft laugh.

"Pudding, come here, come see the gold chain Daddy Joe had custom-made just for you. Flora would have to haul up a drill bit ten times over just to earn this."

The tears came before I could stop them.

So it turned out that in three years I'd traded my life for money 499 times, and it was only his punishment of me, for the sake of Ruby's dog.

His bankruptcy, his debt, his depression, all of it was just an excuse to punish me.

I wiped the bloody tears away, dug out the number of his mortal enemy, and sent a message:

"Mr. Gilbert's always wanted to swallow the Delgado Group, hasn't he? Let me help you."

I stood frozen in the doorway, my ears ringing, the ache of bone crushed by water pressure spreading through my whole body.

Before I could even take in that gutting truth, his best friend, Max Fox, chimed in with a smirk.

"Joe doesn't care about Pudding. He's just partial to Ruby, partial to her right down to the bone."

"If Pudding weren't Ruby's dog, you think Joe would drop two hundred grand on a custom gold collar for it?"

A burst of laughter went up inside the room.

Two hundred grand.

I had to risk my life diving a hundred meters into the slurry and haul up a drill bit ten times over.

And Joseph had taken that money I nearly died for and used it to have a custom gold collar made for Ruby's dog.

My heart felt scooped hollow, throbbing in waves.

Another one of them jumped in at once.

"Everybody knows Joe never went bankrupt. The group's market value doubled last year. It's only that fool Flora who's still in the dark, throwing herself into the mud pit day after day."

"A sealed mud pit a hundred meters down, black as pitch, you can't see your own hand. One cave-in and you're dead. Plenty of strong men won't take that job, and she's done it for three years, a woman!"

"Her skin's gone the color of cement, her face has changed, and her body's about wrecked by now. You think Joe's still got any interest in her?"

Max egged it on.

"Honestly, Joe, just quit the act. Anybody can see Flora's a stand-in for Ruby. The two of you never got over each other, so just get together already."

Ruby scolded in a soft, sweet little voice.

"Max, don't say things like that. Your Joe is a married man. I don't want to be the other woman breaking up somebody's marriage."

Joseph gave a light cough and answered gently.

"You're not."

The laughter filling the room was piercing, like countless fine needles driven deep into the gaps between my bones.

My fingertips had gone white, the bundle of twenty thousand crushed out of shape in my grip.

Three years, 499 gambles with my life for that money, every one a brush with death, leaving me with permanent joint damage, decompression sickness, chest tightness and blackouts that came again and again.

To them it was only a punishment, a joke to keep them amused.

Joseph's voice went cold as he warned them.

"All of you, keep your mouths shut. Don't let Flora find out yet. Once we've built up ten million for Pudding, then the punishment's over."

Max laughed and fawned.

"Yes, yes, yes, Joe's got a real gift for handling women! But us brothers playing broke alongside you, driving food deliveries, we're about worn out."

"Hurry up and let Flora finish the last job, and let us go home!"

I was shaking all over. I couldn't listen to another word, and I turned and left.

The moment I got downstairs, Joseph's mortal enemy, Lambert Gilbert, sent a message.

"Let's set a time to meet."

I typed out an address and slid quickly into a cab.

Joseph, after the way you've used me and ruined me, I'll make you watch your business empire crumble, piece by piece, with your own eyes.

It was already dusk by the time I got back to that cramped rental, barely three hundred square feet.

Joseph sat at the table, cradling a plate of the cheapest fried rice.

The moment he saw me come in, he shot up to meet me.

"Flora, you must be exhausted. Why are you back so late today?"

He reached out and brushed the mud off my shoulder, gentle and attentive, nothing like the cold, calculating man from that morning.

I turned aside from his touch, my voice worn to the bone.

"The pilings were too deep. When I came up I was bleeding from every opening. Four hours of decompression treatment."

For an instant something like pity crossed his face, then vanished.

"It's my fault, I'm useless. My body won't cooperate either, forcing a woman like you to do such dangerous work."

"One more descent and we'll have the whole ten million saved. Once the debt's cleared, I swear I'll never let you go down there again."

Every other time I'd heard those words, my heart had ached for how hard it was on him.

I'd swallow the pain screaming through my body and turn around to comfort him instead, telling him I wasn't afraid of hardship, wasn't afraid of exhaustion,

that as long as we could build a life together, all of it was worth it.

But now, looking at that hypocritical face, all I felt was sick.

He pushed the fried rice in front of me, his tone careful.

"Flora, you've had a long day. Eat first."

When I stayed silent, he assumed I was just too tired. He reached out and rubbed my shoulder, his voice tender.

"Once the debt's paid off, let's have a baby, all right?"

A baby.

My fingertips tightened, fighting down the bitterness surging up inside me.

To this day Joseph has no idea that three years ago, when I agreed to become the woman going down into the slurry to pay off his debt, I lost our three-month-old child.

I was afraid he'd feel guilty and hurt, so I swallowed all of it alone.

But my silence, my sacrifice, the child I lost, all of it bought me nothing but a ridiculous punishment.

I lifted my eyes and gave a cold laugh.

"Fine. I'll hold on one more time."

Only then did Joseph smile, relieved.

Just then his phone rang, right on schedule as always. It was Max.

"Joe, time to head out for the night shift."

Joseph hung up, pressed a kiss to my forehead, and said with a smile,

"The rates are higher at night. Time for your husband to go earn. Get some good rest at home."

I nodded meekly. Once I was sure he'd left, I changed clothes fast, pulled on a hat and mask, and followed him out.

Joseph wasn't taking delivery orders at all. A luxury car came and swept him off to an upscale private club.

The second he reached the entrance, Ruby came trotting up in heels, that Shih Tzu called Pudding tucked in her arms.

Around Pudding's neck was a gleaming gold collar.

Joseph laughed and reached out to steady her.

"Careful, don't twist your ankle."

Ruby gave a coy little smile, slid Pudding into his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world, hooked her arm through his, and walked inside pressed close against him.

Before, Joseph would be gone all night, dragging himself home exhausted only after daybreak.

I'd always thought he was killing himself running orders to pay off the debt, and it broke my heart beyond words.

I'd even beg him not to push so hard, remind him he still had me.

Thinking back on it now, I was a complete and utter idiot.

I held up my phone, hands shaking, and recorded every second of it.

It wasn't enough evidence yet. I pulled my hat lower and followed them in.

Since he loved putting on a show this much, I'd play along to the very end.

Only this time, the ending of the script was mine to rewrite.

Joseph's buddies were bent on pushing him and Ruby together, whooping it up with a round of drinking games and going out of their way to corner her.

Ruby lost, and Joseph pulled her into his arms to take the drink for her.

"You've got the guts, come at me. What kind of man picks on Ruby?"

I was tucked away in the shadows gathering evidence, and I never expected Ruby to spot me anyway.

She didn't make a scene. Without a flicker of expression, she slipped free of Joseph's protection, walked over, and backed me into the restroom.

The fragile, innocent act she wore in front of everyone was gone, her eyes full of mockery and superiority.

"Flora, you actually followed us all the way here?"

"Let me be honest with you. You saw right. Joe never went bankrupt, and he doesn't have depression either. Every single day you were out there killing yourself for money, he was with me."

"Joe doesn't love you at all. From start to finish, you were nothing but my stand-in!"

I feigned shock and shot back coldly, "You're lying!"

Ruby's smile was thin and cold, her posture haughty and brazen. "Am I lying? Do you have eyes or not?"

"The photo on Joe's lock screen is me, his passcode is my birthday, and even that villa you wouldn't let Pudding into? It was never auctioned off to pay debts. It was signed over to me."

"It's home for me and Pudding now."

She watched the color drain from my face inch by inch, and her smile turned smugger still.

"Haven't you noticed? Ever since you two moved into that dump of a rental, Joe hasn't spent a single night there. He hasn't touched you in three years, has he?"

"That's because he's been living at my place all these years. Oh, and that twenty grand you nearly died for, hauling up a drill bit? He handed it straight to me, told me to spend all of it on food and clothes and whatever else for Pudding."

"Flora, everything you've suffered these three years, Joe was punishing you for Pudding. In his heart, you're worth less than a dog of mine."

"If I were you, I'd have been too ashamed to keep living. I'd have just died down in that mudpit and gotten it over with!"

Ruby's words were made to gut me, and they weren't wrong.

The fury boiling up in me couldn't be held down any longer.

Smack!

I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"Who the hell do you think you are? My life is none of your business!"

Ruby's face twisted, her teeth grinding. "You bitch, you dare hit me?"

I grabbed her wrist and gave a cold, cutting smile. "Tell me, if I drag you to Joseph right now and make you say it to his face, do you think he'll blame you for running your mouth and blowing his cover? Will that pure, precious little image of yours survive?"

Ruby froze for a beat, then clapped a hand over her face, threw off my grip, shot me a vicious glare, and turned and ran.

Her words had actually reminded me of something. I stopped the recording, walked out of the private club, hailed a cab, and went straight back to what used to be our villa.

I keyed in Ruby's birthday, and the lock on the front gate popped open.

How fitting.

Back then, Joseph had fallen out with his own mother rather than give up marrying me, a woman with no background and nothing to my name.

I'd stupidly believed it was because he loved me.

But not long after our wedding, Ruby, the first love who'd vanished on him for two years, suddenly showed up at our door with a dog in her arms.

Looking pitiful, she said, "Joe, I broke up with him. I've got nowhere to go. Could I stay with you a few days?"

Joseph went stiff where he stood, saying nothing.

I thought he was caught in the middle, unable to turn her away.

As it happened, I'm allergic to dog hair, so I just refused her request outright.

I meant to get him off the hook. I never imagined that offhand refusal would be the start of three years of undeserved misery.

I pulled myself out of the memory and went straight to the study. It was exactly as it used to be.

I opened the computer, typed in Ruby's birthday again, and it unlocked.

Talk about a pillow arriving the moment you're sleepy. This place had not only what Lambert wanted, but what I wanted too.

After I photographed it and sent it to Lambert, my palms were slick with sweat.

Just then a message came from Joseph.

"Flora, got lucky tonight. It was a customer's birthday and they gave me a slice of cake, blueberry, your favorite. I'll bring it home for you in the morning."

"Also, Mr. Zane just messaged. There's a pile-driving dig the day after tomorrow, pretty tough one, and he wants you on-site and ready. He's offering thirty grand this time. Get a good day's rest tomorrow, okay?"

Acting like that, it's a crime nobody's handed him an Oscar.

I couldn't help the smile, and I didn't answer him.

On my way out, I spotted a Delgado family invitation on the coffee table in the living room.

Joseph's mother, the mother-in-law who'd never had any use for me, was turning sixty.

Nobody had told me, and the date happened to be set for the day after tomorrow.

What a coincidence.

Once it clicked, I let out a cold laugh. My mother-in-law's big birthday, and how could I, as her daughter-in-law, not attend?

Perfect. I'd bring them a nice big gift.

The next day, Joseph came home reeking of alcohol and cigarettes.

I frowned and asked why he'd been drinking.

He came over, slid an arm around my waist, his eyes warm and smiling.

"Just the thought that the debt's almost paid off, that we can finally start a real life together, it made me happy. Couldn't help having a couple of drinks."

"Flora, once we get through this last time, let's have a baby. I want to give the two of you everything I've got for the rest of my life."

Joseph looked at me, tender and earnest, his gaze so sincere it didn't seem like a lie at all.

Once, I would have wept from the sheer emotion of it. Now it only struck me as fake and sickening.

When I didn't move, he pulled out a slice of blueberry cake and held it out to me like a prize.

"See how good your husband is to you? I saved this specially for you."

It was a dessert from the private club, the leftovers they'd brought back after eating.

I set the cake down on the table cluttered with junk and told him I didn't have a taste for sweets anymore.

Joseph looked stunned for a second, then pressed on, asking what I liked to eat, saying he'd go buy it for me right now.

I ignored his words and asked him instead,

"Can I skip the site tomorrow? My body still hasn't recovered from going down into the pit yesterday. The moment I sink into the slurry I can't breathe, and my old injuries ache something terrible."

A flicker of pain crossed his eyes, and the next second he tightened his arm around my waist and said gently,

"Just this last time, Flora. Hold on a little longer."

"Once the debt's cleared, Max and the others can help me get back on my feet. I promise I'll give you a life of silk and fine food after this, and you'll never suffer again."

I already knew this was how it would go, and yet hearing him say it out loud with my own ears still made my chest ache.

I nodded in silence and said nothing more.

Seeing me give in, Joseph relaxed considerably. He told me to rest well, then turned and headed out again, using a follow-up hospital appointment as his excuse.

The day after, my mother-in-law's 60th birthday party was held at the most luxurious hotel in the city.

The banquet was lavish beyond measure, grand and ceremonious.

Relatives and friends gathered together, and even many of Joseph's important business partners had come.

On the electronic screen in the center of the ballroom, a montage of Yvonne's life played on a loop.

She sat in the seat of honor, flushed and glowing, grinning from ear to ear.

In the crowd, Ruby wore an exquisite couture gown, her makeup soft and lovely, her arm looped through Joseph's as she worked the room with easy grace.

The two of them were so intimate that anyone who didn't know would have taken her for Mrs. Delgado.

At the very peak of the celebration, I burst in wearing the clothes I usually wore to the work site.

Everyone froze, sizing me up with strange looks, whispering among themselves.

"Who's that? Why did they let a beggar in here? She stinks."

"I think that's... that's Mrs. Delgado. How did she end up looking like that?"

Amid the clamor of gasps, Joseph's body went rigid, the smile shattering off his face.

He shot to his feet and strode over to me.

"Flora? Weren't you supposed to be on standby at the site? What are you doing here?"

I smiled and said,

"It's my mother-in-law's big birthday. How could I, her daughter-in-law, not come?"

"Such a grand affair. Must have cost a fortune. Where did you get the money?"

Joseph grabbed hold of me, his face turning white, his voice dropping low.

"Flora, go home first. I'll come back later and explain everything to you."

I shook his hand off, my tone flat, my voice rising.

"Explain? What lie are you going to make up to fool me this time?"

"Why don't you explain it to everyone right now, how you spent these three years faking poverty and bankruptcy, pretending to be sick."

"How you tricked me into diving four hundred and ninety-nine times into a hundred-meter-deep piling pit full of slurry to fish out drill bits, trading my life for money, all to punish me because three years ago I wouldn't let Ruby's dog into the house?"