SIMPLETON
Everyone thinks Emma is a simpleton. She has been married to her husband for fifteen years. They have two children togetherCharlotte, who is fourteen, and Toby, who is seven. Her husbands affairs are practically an open secret. He first cheated on her on the second day of their wedding, with a waitress, and after that, its impossible to count. Friends tried to make her see sense, but she always smiled sweetly and said nothing.
Emma works as an accountant at a toy factory. According to her, the salary is meagre, but the workload is relentless. She often has to work weekends. When the quarterly and annual reports are due, she sometimes doesnt make it home at night at all.
Her husband earns a very good living. Yet, Emma is not much of a homemaker either. No matter how much money she gets for groceries, its never enough; the fridge is always empty and on a good day, the best she can whip up is a stew or some fish fingers and chips. Thats how they lived. Everyone around would shake their heads whenever they saw Simon with a new fling. And he often came home, as they say, dry as a bonenothing to offer.
Oh, Emmas such a fool. Why does she put up with that philanderer? people would whisper.
On the day Toby turned ten, Simon came home and calmly announced he wanted a divorce. He said hed fallen in love, and this family just wasnt for him anymore.
Emma, dont take it the wrong way, but Im filing for divorce. Youre cold as ice. If only you were at least a decent housewife, but youre not even that.
All right, Emma said. I agree to the divorce.
Simon was so shocked, he nearly fell off his chair. Hed been expecting a scene, a screaming match, floods of tears. This calmness, he hadnt foreseen.
All right then, Emma continued. You can pack your things and I wont stand in your way. Just leave your key under the doormat when you go.
Emma smiled at him in a way that was oddly pleasant but also suspicious. Simon thought it strange for a fleeting moment, but quickly forgot as he daydreamed about his new, carefree life without kids and a nagging wife.
The next day, he returned home with his new flame. He checked under the doormatno key. That put him in a bit of a bad mood.
Oh well, Ill just change the locks, thatll sort it, he decided, and attempted to put his key in the lock. It didnt fit. He rang the bell. The door opened, and there stood a man built like a rugby player, in slippers and a dressing gown.
What dyou want, mate? the man asked.
Um, this is my flat, Simon said, suddenly unsure of himself.
Well, Id beg to differ, said the man. Any papers to prove that? If you do, kindly show me.
Of course, Simon didnt have any documents on him, and they wouldnt let him in. Then it hit himhis address ought to be in his passport. Fumbling, he found it at last.
Theres my passport, and the address is right there.
The man took the passport gruffly, flipped through it, smirked, and handed it back.
When did you last look at this little book, eh?
Sensing something was wrong, Simon flipped straight to the residency page. Two stamps stared back at him: one indicating residency, and the other, expulsiondated two years ago.
How had this happened? Simon decided not to argue with the burly fellow. He rang Emma, but her phone was out of range.
He waited for her outside the factory gatebut promptly discovered Emma hadnt worked there in a year. His daughter was away studying overseas; well, surely his son would still be at school. But the school gave him nothing but further disappointmentToby had transferred to a new school the year before. Since Simon apparently had no idea, the staff wouldnt provide any information.
Completely crushed, Simon slumped onto a bench and buried his head in his hands. How had it come to this? His quiet, meek Emmapulling off something like this? And how had she managed to sell the flat? Oh well, hed sort it all out in court. The divorce was a week away.
He turned up to court feeling furious and ready to paint Emma as a fraud and reclaim what was his. Sure enough, everything soon made sense. It turned out that Simon had completely forgotten signing enduring power of attorney in Emmas name. Two years back, when hed met Louisean absolutely stunning womanhed been so smitten he forgot everything else. Emma had been pestering him about university forms and permissions for Charlotte, all needing his signature. On a solicitors advice, hed given Emma power of attorney. With his own flourish, hed stripped himself of everything he owned. He was left out on the street. To make it worse, when Louise found out he had no flat, she vanished without a trace.
Well, never mind, thought Simon, shell take me to court for support, and then Ill show her. She wont get a penny out of me. But even here, another blow waited. Instead of a letter demanding child support, he received a summons for a paternity dispute. Turns out, both of Emmas children are fathered by someone else.
On their wedding day, Emma had seen her new husband cheating with the waitress. Something inside her snapped: Emma didnt even know how it happened, but she decided to take her revenge, in a most peculiar way. The first idea: an affair in return. Then, she started economising, hiding every penny Simon gave her for household expenses. The cupboards at home were bare, but the children were looked after by their grandmother, always well-fed and well-dressed. Emmas mother shook her head and tried to talk her out of this.
Revenge will destroy you, Emma. Itll ruin the childrens childhood.
But Emma, determined, pressed on. Now, at last, shed achieved her goal. Shed confirmed the DNA, though shed always known whose children they really were.
This was the ultimate blow. Losing the flat was nothing compared to learning the truth: that the woman hed always dismissed as a simpleton had borne two children by another man.
Beware a woman youve wrongedfor in anger, she is capable of anything.
