Chapter 3 Breaking Free

• I bought a second-hand electric scooter for one hundred eighty-two dollars and started working right away.
• From noon until late at night, I climbed stairs delivering food, drenched in sweat. When I calculated my earnings for the day, it was about twenty dollars. I felt so happy I could have jumped with excitement.
• For dinner, I treated myself to a bowl of my favorite rice noodles at the night market. Even though I was starving, I only ate half.
• I knew that leaving that house wasn’t just about walking away, I had to transform myself.
• In the past, whenever I attended parent-teacher meetings, Cody would complain that I was fat and ugly, saying I embarrassed him. When I picked the twins up from school, they always kept their distance from me.
• When Larry and I first started dating, he said I was too skinny and insisted on fattening me up. Later, though, he rarely took me out. Back in school, I was considered a beauty, admired by many. But I foolishly chose Larry out of all my suitors.
• After getting married, I devoted myself to cooking, capturing Larry’s taste buds and winning over the twins. But in the end, the only one who gained weight was me.
• Now, I was determined to lose weight and return to the person I used to be. From now on, every moment of my time would be for myself.
• That night, Amber came home and saw the empty fridge. In disbelief, she asked, "You were never this greedy before, were you?"
• Greedy? Who doesn’t like good food? Only fools or mothers deny themselves. I blocked her.
• Cody called too, demanding to know why I hadn’t washed his sneakers since he needed them for the next day. I hung up on him.
• Not long after, Larry called. He demanded to know why I wasn’t at home and why I wasn’t taking care of the kids properly.
• I glanced at the clock, it was already 11 p.m.
• "And why aren’t you at home?" I shot back. It was the first time I ever talked back to him. I’d always been the one to silently endure.
• "I work my ass off every day! How dare you compare yourself to me?"
• "Oh, are you working your ass off on some other woman?"
• Larry hesitated before saying, "I earn all the money in this family. What’s wrong with having a little fun?"
• "Well, I’m making money now too. What’s wrong if I have a little fun?" I hung up the phone and blocked him. Then I blocked them all.
• It felt amazing, like years of pent-up frustration had finally been released.
• A few days later, I received a delivery order for Larry’s office. Not wanting to encounter him, I wrapped myself up tightly so no one would recognize me.
• A woman answered the phone and told me to deliver the food to the purchasing manager’s office.
• It was during lunch break, and the office building was nearly empty. I pushed open the door and saw a heavily made-up woman curled up in a man’s arms.
• In a sugary voice, the woman asked, "Did your nagging wife really leave home? What about your two kids?"
• "She’s too attached to them. She’ll come crawling back in a few days, begging me for forgiveness," the man replied smugly.
• "So when will you divorce her and marry me? Do you love that old hag, or do you love me?" the woman asked.
• The man pinched the woman’s pretty face.