Handyman Needed

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

I went to the City Clerk’s office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk’s pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray’s text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we’re done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray’s life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.

Modern Revenge Divorce Revenge Female-centered Divorce

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Have you ever wondered what life will be like if you weren't born the way you were?

Have you wondered why people judge others for a situation they can't control?

If you haven't, then welcome to my life.

Welcome to my world, the world of Rabel Ichie Uzoamaka, the shunned maiden of Mabudazou.

“Witch”, I hear a villager mutter as I passed her by,

“Ekwensu's(is an evil proprietor; he's the god of all things evil) child,” another spat.

Without saying anything about that, I continue with my journey.

I've grown used to the way they treat me in our small town.

It doesn't help that I dyed my white hair black to blend in with others, but despite that, the villagers still single me out every time; every single damn time.

I pause at Mama Nneka's house to drop a herb for her; her daughter Nkechi is seriously down with fever.

A single dose of my Akwukwo Ede administered to her by me can clear her fever in a few hours.

Her mother is willing to take the medicines I drop on her doorposts, but she's not willing for me to directly treat her child.

The Miri use I've been giving her is enough to keep the fever at bay, but not fully heal her.

Walking past Mama Nneka's house after I dropped the medicine on their doorpost, I walk towards the house of my friend Soso.

I hope she isn't in Akwukwo if she is, I won't forgive myself for not being at her house earlier.

“Rabel!” Soso happily rushes towards me, enveloping me in a breath-stopping hug she smiles up at me, “I thought you weren't coming today,” she pouts cutely.

I stoop low to embrace my best friend *if there's a word like that* she's the only one who doesn't fear me in the entirety of Mabudazou.

“How can I afford to miss your warm hug soso?” I poke her cute chubby cheeks. “ You're my ray of sunshine; the only person I will sail the entire world just to be with you,” I smile at her.

It's not an exaggeration of words when I say those.

She's the only person I will sacrifice both my safety for her.

She touches my dyed hair, “why did you change your hair colour? I like the other one better!” she looks at my said hair with hatred in her eyes.

I touch said hair, "I want to try out a new look.” I lied to her for not the first time since I started hanging out here with her.

Likewise, I dyed my hair to make the animosity the villagers have toward me lessen, but instead of having the desired effect, it had the opposite.

She smiles like the kid she is, “it looks good on you though,” she shrugs while giving me aside smile.

“ Am glad you like it,” I genuinely smile at her.

“ Mummy said Ekwensu must have taken you back to his lair when I complained about your lateness today,” she gently lay her head on my shoulder, "I was heartbroken when I thought you won't visit me today.”

“ Don't worry about that, Dearie; I won't miss a day without you.”

I open my bag of goodies," guess what I brought for you today?” I smile more brightly than I've done since I last saw her yesterday.

It's always a game we play each time I pay a visit to their house.

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