Husband Hid a Mistress, So I Freed His Institutionalized Mother

The day I got home from my business trip, I went to collect the rent right on schedule.

But the tenant said he'd already given the money to my daughter.

I was stunned.

My husband and I were childless by choice and had no kids at all.

Just as I was about to call him to check, I received a divorce agreement from him.

That was when I understood: the person collecting my rent was his mistress.

I gave a bitter little laugh and, that very night, went and brought her mother out of the psychiatric hospital.

The next day, when my husband came walking out of the county clerk's office beaming with joy,

I slowly pulled open the car door, pointed at the mistress, and said, "There... that one is your new daughter-in-law!"

The day I got home from my business trip, I remembered it was time to collect the rent on the storefront.

So I sent a message to my tenant, Kevin Chavez: "Kevin, the rent's due to be transferred to me."

Less than two minutes later, Kevin replied, "Hey, didn't the rent already get transferred to your daughter? Did she not give it to you?"

I stared at the screen, blank for a couple of seconds.

My fingers flew across the keys: "What are you talking about? My daughter?"

"Yeah, your daughter... pretty tall, shoulder-length hair... she said you'd been busy lately and asked her to collect it for you." After that, Kevin sent over a screenshot of the transfer.

The recipient's profile picture was a selfie of a young woman.

All smiles, her eyes curved like crescent moons.

The date was last Wednesday.

The amount was exactly the rent we'd agreed on.

My head went "buzz," like someone had punched me square in the face, and I couldn't catch my breath for a long moment.

A young guy waiting for the bus nearby saw how bad I looked and asked with concern, "Ma'am, are you okay? Are you feeling sick somewhere?"

I waved him off, my throat dry and tight.

I was born with a uterine deformity, and the doctor said pregnancy would be very risky.

Back when I was dating my husband, Ronald Finch, we'd agreed not to have children.

Back then he held me and said, "It doesn't matter whether we have kids or not. As long as I have you, that's enough for me."

Even later, when the parents on both sides pushed us, we held a united front and wouldn't budge no matter how they pushed, gently or hard.

But who would have thought that one business trip later, a grown daughter would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles went white.

My first thought was to find Ronald and ask him who this girl was.

But no matter how many times I called, it kept showing that his phone was turned off.

Ronald worked as a construction supervisor; his phone was always on, twenty-four hours a day.

So why had it suddenly gone dark?

Just as I was puzzling over it, my phone buzzed.

It was an email from Ronald.

The attachment was labeled with two words: Divorce Agreement.

The blood in my whole body went cold all at once, chilling me from the top of my spine all the way down to my heels.

That was when I finally understood: the person collecting my rent wasn't his daughter at all, but his mistress!

I looked at my phone screen and tugged my lips into a bitter smile. "Ronald, oh, Ronald, I never expected you to play around like this..."

Then I hailed a cab and headed straight for the psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of the city.

You want a divorce?

Fine!

I'll give you what you want!

On the way to the psychiatric hospital, I sent Ronald a text.

"Nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Bring your documents. Meet me at the county clerk's office."

Ronald immediately sent back one word: "Fine."

No explanation, not a trace of reluctance.

Looking at that one cold word on the screen, I smiled.

So many years of marriage, and he wouldn't give me even half a sentence of explanation. Just like that, it was over.

Good.

It saved me from having to fake politeness with him.

It was already past eight in the evening when the car reached the psychiatric hospital.

I walked in, knowing my way around.

The nurse at the reception desk saw me and greeted me with a smile. "Tracey, here to see Ms. Lawrence again? She's in good spirits today. She even sang for us."

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, unable to name what I felt inside.

The "Ms. Lawrence" the nurse meant was Ronald's mother, Flora Lawrence.

In her youth, she had been the star performer of a musical theater company.

Later, after witnessing Ronald's father's affair with her own eyes, she developed a mental illness.

When she wasn't having an episode, she was no different from anyone else.

But the moment an episode hit, she would turn severely violent.

Especially toward pretty young women.

Originally, Flora's condition wasn't serious enough to keep her in a psychiatric hospital full-time.

It was Ronald and his father who came to me in tears, begging me to pull some strings, and that was how I forced through her long-term stay.

For the past three years, I had been the one caring for her.

Ronald and his father never came to visit, not even once.

I figured that father and son had gotten so used to their comfortable life

that they'd forgotten they still had this wife and this mother.

Since that was the case...

naturally, I ought to help them remember.

And while I was at it, I'd send my former mother-in-law back to her precious son.

Let them have their reunion!

When I followed the nurse to the ward, Flora was sitting by the window peeling an orange.

The moment I came in, she shoved the half-peeled orange in her hand into my mouth.

"Tracey's here? Here, have some orange... this orange is so sweet..."

She really was doing well today; her eyes were clear, with no sign of madness at all.

I took the orange, and my heart clenched.

After all, we'd been mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for over a decade, and when she wasn't ill she was genuinely good to me.

But the thought of Ronald and that mistress cooled that flicker of guilt at once.

I crouched down beside her, held her hand, and said softly, "Mom, tomorrow I'm divorcing Ronald. He's found himself a new wife, and I came today to take you back to him... Are you happy?"

Flora's hand froze mid-peel, and the tenderness in her eyes drained away in an instant.

She kept muttering, "Marriage? New wife? Vixen... vixen... old and young, both of them chasing vixens..."

I went along with it and patted her back, my voice softening further. "That's right. Your son found himself a vixen too, and he's making a big fuss about divorcing me... but don't you worry... that new wife of his looks so sweet and obedient... I'm sure she'll take good care of you."

Maybe my words set her off, because Flora suddenly shot to her feet.

Her eyes turned vicious in a flash. "Where is that vixen? I'll kill her! Back then she stole my husband... and now she wants to steal my son! I'll kill her! Kill her..."

The nurse saw it on the monitor and hurried over. "Tracey, what's wrong with Ms. Lawrence? She was fine just a moment ago!"

"It's nothing... she just had a sudden stress reaction. I'll take her home and settle her down for a few days and she'll be fine," I explained to the nurse with a smile, then pulled out the discharge papers I'd prepared.

"I've finished the paperwork. Can I take her home today?"

The nurse looked at the form I'd signed and seemed about to speak, then held back.

After a long moment, she sighed. "All right... but, Miss Henson... are you really sure you want to take Ms. Lawrence out of the hospital?"

"Of course," I said with a faint smile.

"A family should be whole, all together again!"

After we left the hospital, I helped Flora, who was cursing the whole way, over to a taxi.

The driver took one look at the situation and hesitated, not wanting to take us.

It was only after I slipped him an extra two hundred bucks that he reluctantly let us get in the car.

After that, I took her to the three-bedroom apartment that Ronald and I had bought after we got married.

When she first got sick, she'd lived here for the better part of a year, so she knew the place well.

Once we were inside, I ran a hot bath for her.

When I was drying her hair afterward, her eyes looked a little clearer.

She suddenly looked up at me and said, "Tracey, I'm sorry... that bastard Ronald is just like his father. I'm so sorry you've had to suffer like this..."

My hand stilled. I draped the towel around her neck, smiled, and said, "Mom... he's the one in the wrong, not you... you don't need to apologize for him."

Flora sighed and gently took my hand. "Tracey, you're a good girl. I know that all these years, you're the only one who's truly been good to me. Don't worry... Mom will make sure that little slut pays for this..."

I gently slipped my hand free and patted the back of hers. "Mom, you're tired. Get some sleep first, and we'll talk more tomorrow."

I settled her in the guest bedroom, tucked the blanket around her, and put on some soft music.

Before long, the sound of steady snoring filled the room.

I quietly pulled the door shut and went to the study to turn on the computer.

The wedding photo in its frame was still sitting on the desk.

The picture was of Ronald and me, taken seven years ago.

Back then he hadn't put on the weight yet, and his smile was open and guileless.

I reached out, wiped the dust off the glass, and gave a cold laugh. "Sure enough, feelings are the thing that can least survive being tested..." Then I flipped the frame over and laid it face down on the desk.

"But now that the feelings are gone... all that's left is to talk about money!"

I pulled up records for all of our family's bank cards and assets.

I started going through the last six months of transactions, page by page.

That's when I found out he'd been quietly transferring out a lot of money.

The recipient's name was always Lois Pruitt, and altogether he'd moved four million dollars out.

That was how I finally learned the mistress's name.

I took a deep breath and pushed down the anger churning in my chest.

I opened the stock account Ronald used most often.

Sure enough, the holdings that had once been worth over three million were now down to nothing.

I'd had my suspicions before.

How had Ronald managed to pull out money and cheat without anyone noticing?

The money in our joint account clearly hadn't been touched much.

So this was the real reason.

After that, I checked the deed for the storefront property.

The name on the deed hadn't changed, and only then did I let out a long breath.

Then I took screenshots of all the transfer records and transaction details, saved them to the USB drive I always carry, and sent a message to my friend who's a lawyer.

"Irvin, I'm going to the county clerk's office to file for divorce first thing tomorrow. There may be a lawsuit down the line. Can we meet tomorrow morning?"

Irvin was my college classmate.

The moment he heard I wanted a divorce, he immediately understood what was going on.

He replied instantly: "Come straight to my office tomorrow. Don't worry... you won't lose a single penny of what's rightfully yours!"

I typed back, "Thank you," then turned off the computer, leaned back in my chair, and lit a cigarette.

I rarely smoke; I only take a drag when something is really eating at me.

In the drifting smoke, I remembered when Ronald and I first started dating.

He'd just graduated back then, working as a supervisor on a construction site, so broke he couldn't even afford a decent suit. I called in favors all over to line up work for him and helped him earn his first real money.

With his eyes red, he'd held my hand and said, "Tracey, someday I'm going to give you the kind of life everyone envies."

I was pretty moved at the time. I thought I'd read him right.

Looking back now, it's honestly laughable.

It really does prove that old saying.

It's easy to share hardship, but hard to share good fortune.

The next morning, I bought Flora coffee and a bagel.

She was eating when she suddenly said, "Tracey, once you finish the paperwork today, you go on and leave. Mom will handle the rest!"

I stopped mid-bite of my bagel and said nothing, my eyes reddening despite myself.

She set down her bowl, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, her gaze as fierce as ice. "Don't worry... I won't let you suffer for nothing. Today I'm going to claw that little slut's face to shreds!"

I forced a smile and nodded. "Thank you, Mom... it's about time. Let's go!"

When we arrived at the county clerk's office, we could see Ronald standing on the steps from a distance.

A girl in her twenties was standing next to him.

She wore a white dress, her makeup carefully done, her belly slightly rounded.

She was clinging affectionately to Ronald's arm.

I knew that a big reason Ronald went out chasing other women was because I couldn't have children.

After we got married, I told him more than once that we could try IVF, or adopt.

But every time, he swore up and down, "It doesn't matter, as long as I have you, that's enough."

And so I lived for more than a decade inside the lies he wove.

Right up until I'd grown old and faded.

And it was exactly then that he refused to own up to any of it, and turned around to find someone younger.

Not even a word of explanation. How could I not hate him!

When Flora saw my expression change, she was about to get out of the car right then and go tear into that mistress.

I quickly grabbed her and said, "Mom... please, hold it in... wait until I've finished the divorce, okay? I'm begging you..."

I don't know if it was because she felt what I felt, or if maybe she had never really been crazy at all.

Maybe she'd just been fooling herself all along, and suddenly she went calm.

She gently stroked my head and said, "My baby girl's been wronged... all right... Mom will listen to you. I'll go once you've finished the divorce."

"Thank you, Mom." I wiped away the tears welling at the corners of my eyes and pushed the door open to get out of the car.

When Ronald saw me, his face looked a little uncomfortable.

He asked flatly, "Tracey, you're here... did you bring all the documents?"

I gave a small smile, ignored him, and glanced at Lois beside him.

She looked even younger than in the photos, radiating youth.

No wonder Ronald was so dazzled by her that he'd toss aside the loyal wife who'd been through hard times with him.

Seeing me look at her, Lois called out to me softly, "Sis, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I really do love Ronald..."

I raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and only found it funny.

Sure enough, a mistress's lines were always the same handful of phrases, over and over.

Then I lifted my chin and walked into the county clerk's office.

Ronald signed his name incredibly fast, as if I'd change my mind if he wasted even a second.

I slowly picked up the pen and signed too.

Once the red seal came down, the marriage certificate turned into a divorce certificate.

Walking out the doors of the county clerk's office, Ronald let out a sigh of relief.

Like he'd finally shed some burden.

He reached out his hand to me and said in a phony tone, "Tracey, we've been together all these years, and even though we're divorced... going forward... we're still friends. The three-bedroom apartment is yours, the storefront is yours too. I only want this home in the school district and the car, call it compensation for you."

Looking at that fake, hypocritical face of his, I nearly threw up everything I'd eaten yesterday.

I gave him a sidelong glance and sneered, "You said it yourself, we've been together all these years. You're a newlywed now, so how could I, as the ex-wife, not have a gift ready for you!" With that, I slowly pulled open the back door of the car.

"I hope you like the gift I prepared for you!"