All Chapters of The Christmas Visit I Waited Seven Years for Ended My Marriage: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

When I looked down without answering, Maria tapped the table."Alan has always worried about you living alone in Texas. Now that he's making good money, he wants you to move here."My hands curled into fists, but I still couldn't bring myself to tell them I'd sold the house years ago.I looked Alan straight in the eye. "Where would I stay if I moved here?"Alan's gaze darted away."My company just landed a major project, so I'm on video calls late every night. You're a light sleeper. If we shared a room, I'd keep you awake. Mom is getting older, so we can't ask her to give up the primary bedroom. Daisy has too much stuff in her room, and she needs her privacy. You can clean out the storage room and put a twin bed in there. You'll be fine."One look at the expensive meal in front of me killed my appetite. Acid rose in my throat, and I felt sick.I asked him, "What would I do here?"Alan seemed to think I was coming around. He let out a relieved breath.He smiled, his eyes full of condes

Chapter 2

Once Alan and Maria started reminiscing about Daisy's life abroad, they couldn't stop.One embarrassing story followed another.At 20, Daisy still had to be coaxed into drinking milk.Meanwhile, I had spent an entire winter washing dishes in freezing water at a restaurant after Alan got scammed and needed money. My hands cracked and bled from the cold.Alan had told me that I was all he had and he needed my help.So I curled up alone in my tiny rental room, took every job I could find, and learned how to deal with his creditors.Alan and Maria went on and on about Daisy.They remembered almost every detail of her life abroad, from the day she arrived to the present.Daisy laughed until tears filled her eyes. Then she tilted her head toward Alan and asked, "Alan, don't just talk about me. What funny stories do you have about Amanda's last few years in Texas?"The table fell silent. Alan and Maria stammered, unable to think of a single story.At last, Alan gave an awkward laugh. "All rig

Chapter 3

Maria spotted me in the bedroom doorway and frowned."You still haven't found anything for Daisy? What good are you?"Daisy had barely recovered, but when she heard Maria insult me, she quickly stepped in, though I caught the triumph in her eyes. "It's a stomachache, not a broken bone. I'll find the medicine myself."Daisy winked at me when no one was looking and whispered, "Don't blame Maria. She gets impatient sometimes. That's just how she is."I said nothing.Once everything settled down, we went back to the living room.Alan picked up a box of imported grapes and started fussing over Daisy. "Daisy has always been a picky eater. She loves these imported seedless grapes. But your stomach is upset today, so you shouldn't have anything this sweet. I'll save them for you."Daisy pointed. "I don't want the bunch that's turning yellow. It's too ripe.""Fine. Amanda can have those."Without even asking me, Alan handed me the yellowing grapes. He never cared what I liked. Whatever Daisy di

Chapter 4

I booked it without hesitation. Only then did Alan remember I existed."Clear out the storage room. It's packed, but make enough space for a folding bed. Get over the jet lag quickly. Starting Monday, you'll take over the household chores."Daisy immediately protested. "Absolutely not! All my collector's bags are in there. Some can be replaced, but what if she damages one of them? I can't just buy another one!"Alan asked sheepishly, "Then... how about the couch for now?"Maria shot that down immediately. "Absolutely not. We just had the couch professionally cleaned. It costs hundreds of dollars to maintain genuine leather."Alan grew irritated. "Then what do you suggest?"As always, I was nothing but a problem they had to find somewhere to put.When we first married, Alan held me close and swore he would cherish me for the rest of our lives.After he moved abroad, our calls always went the same way whenever I begged him to bring me over. He'd act worried, comfort me with sweet words,

Chapter 5

The greasy-looking man appeared to be in his fifties. He smiled and openly looked me up and down.Something felt off, but I exchanged a few words with him out of politeness.His questions were anything but casual. He wanted to know my age and what kind of clothes I liked to wear.When I answered coldly, Alan sent me to the kitchen to wash some fruit.I had barely stepped into the kitchen when Alan followed me."Why are you acting so clueless? Do you really not understand, or are you pretending?"I stared at him. "Understand what?""I'm opening doors for you! I went to all this trouble to introduce you, and you treat him like that? Drop the attitude. No wonder everyone in Texas walked all over you. In a few days, you'll go home with Mr. Smith and keep him company. Then you'll be able to...""Alan! You bastard!"My blood ran cold. I couldn't believe what I was hearing."I'm your wife! And you're telling me to sleep with some old man?""Not forever. Did you think you were going there to b

Chapter 6

Alan ground his teeth. "How dare she? I fed her and put a roof over her head. What did I ever do wrong?"Maria crumpled the papers with a scoff. "Let her starve. She'll come crawling back on her own."They were convinced they had me trapped and that I could never survive without them.Once they canceled my credit card, I'd have no choice but to fall back in line.They brushed off the divorce papers as nothing more than a neglected wife acting out to get her husband's attention.Alan canceled the credit card he had given me, which had a pathetic thousand-dollar limit.Daisy snickered and tried to message me in secret, only to discover I had already blocked her.Two months passed, and they still hadn't heard a word from me.Alan tried to call me only to find that I had blocked his number.Every text he sent came back marked "Message Not Delivered".Only then did Alan begin to panic.He slammed his palm against the table. "She's completely out of control! Does she honestly think I can't l

Chapter 7

The shock in Alan's voice caught Sophie off guard."The Vittoria Group! Amanda stood up to everyone who tried to stop her and pulled off the largest acquisition in the Asia-Pacific region. They call her the queen."Pride filled Sophie's voice as she listed my achievements.Alan felt dizzy. His hands shook, and even his face began to twitch.His heart pounded so hard he could barely contain his excitement.Winning a million-dollar lottery couldn't have excited him more.The multinational company he worked for was already wholly owned by the Vittoria Group!"How do you not know any of this?" Sophie's question hit him like a bucket of ice water.Alan's expression changed. He turned toward Maria, his eyes filled with both excitement and fear.The full weight of what they had done finally hit them.They thought back over everything they'd done to me during my visit.They had made a woman worth hundreds of millions sleep on a yoga mat out on the balcony.They had assumed I was used to hardsh

Chapter 8

Alan's eyes reddened as he stared at me, torn between love and resentment.He loved that I had built a fortune without ever burdening him.He resented that I was now out of his reach and beyond his control."I have swallowed my pride and come here to beg you. No matter how badly you think you've been wronged, you should let it go."Maria's eyes reddened too. "Exactly. Alan is begging you. You should be grateful."My executives watched me with sympathy in their eyes.At company retreats, I had always told them how I'd built my company without showing much emotion.My executives respected me, but until that day, none of them had seen firsthand what I'd endured to get there."No." Even I was surprised by how calm I sounded."From now on, leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone."Alan's eyes immediately filled with tears. With trembling hands, he pulled a boxed grape cake from one of his gift bags."See? I remember what you like. You ate those grapes so eagerly that day. I could tell you

Chapter 9

Alan left me alone for a month. I never expected him to keep plotting ways to win me back, much less drag the press into it."Amanda, give me one chance to make amends. Let me host a celebration dinner in your honor."They sent me an invitation with the address of a seven-star hotel.I didn't reply, nor did I go.They were convinced I'd eventually give in and show up.After all, what woman could stop loving her own husband?I never appeared. Later, Sophie messaged me, and I learned what a spectacle I had missed.Alan had invited his colleagues, major clients and executives, and senior management from headquarters.They all gathered there, confused and curious about Alan's mysterious wife, who was supposedly worth billions.When Mr. Smith—the client Alan had tried to pawn me off on—realized that wife was me, he was stunned.Before Alan could even finish his speech, Mr. Smith charged onto the stage and slapped him hard enough to split his lip.Alan froze. Mr. Smith looked furious.He lou

Chapter 10

Daisy was allowed one phone call from prison, and she used it to call me.Her screams and sobs came pouring through the phone. Her desperation sounded just like mine had years ago, when I'd writhed in pain on that basement floor with no one there to help me.I listened, then answered calmly, "You shouldn't have thrown away the rest of your life for wealth that never belonged to you. You have plenty of time to think about that now."Alan and Maria went bankrupt, and the court even auctioned off their apartment.Creditors swarmed the apartment like sharks scenting blood and stripped it bare.Alan escaped during the chaos and hid in a restaurant in Chinatown, washing dishes and eating whatever food he could salvage from the trash.At last, he was living the same life I once had.Somehow, he later got hold of a phone and called me. "Baby, I was wrong! Please help me. I can't live like this."I gave a cold laugh and hung up.Then I sent the police his location along with evidence of his cri

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