The Woman From Hell

I was taken aback by her words. I knew that she did it on purpose, but I could not stop the hurt from her words. I gripped the railing of the stairs tightly. My knuckles turned white from the force of me holding onto it. After some moments, I calmed myself down and turned around slowly. I then tried to say something. “Are you hungry? I can cook something for you.” Theo interjected, not giving me a chance to speak. He smiled while looking at Cindy. “Sure, sure. Theo, I want to have some of the fish cooked by you.” Cindy ignored me and looked at Theo with a joyous expression on her face. “Alright. Why don’t you watch some television while you wait for me? It will be ready soon.” I turned around and headed upstairs. I closed the door to shut out the noises from the living room. After returning to my room, I sat in front of the window wall. It was a hot day, but I was feeling so cold that I was trembling. I wrapped my arms around my knees and curled up on myself. ……. In the morning, the ringtone from my phone woke me up. It was from Cindy’s texts. She wanted me to go down to prepare breakfast for her. I was still dazed since I had just woken up. After a few moments, I finally recalled that Theo had told me to take care of her yesterday. My head hurt a little as I did not sleep well last night. I struggled to get out of bed. “Mason, please have a seat. I’ll get some fruit for you.” As I headed downstairs, I heard Cindy greeting Mason as if she was the lady of the house. After speaking, she wheeled herself back to the dining room. Since she was not used to using a wheelchair, the wheelchair did not move no matter how much she tried to wheel it. I stood on the staircase in silence as I watched her performance. There was no sign of Theo in the house. He must be at work. “No need. Please don’t move about,” Mason said. He then turned around and caught sight of me. He nodded and said coldly, “Miss Lane, Theo asked me over to change Cindy’s dressing.” “Wanda, you’re finally awake. Get some fruits for Mason and prepare breakfast at once!” Cindy ordered. She was already treating me like a maid. I did not say a word and headed to the kitchen. Mason followed me and said, “I know that you did not do it. Didn’t you clarify this with him?” I knew that he was referring to Cindy’s injury at the company. After a moment of silence, I turned around to take a teacup and poured water into the cup for him. “My explanation is not important. What is more important is that Miss Reed is injured, and someone must take care of her, isn’t it?” I asked in exasperation. Mason did not say anything. He turned around to grab a medicine kit from the living room. He looked at me and said, “Your dressing needs to be changed as well.” After saying that, he took my injured hand without waiting for a response from me. He removed the layers of bandage. The wound had turned whitish due to the rainwater yesterday. It looked like it was suppurating. Oddly, I did not feel any pain from last night till today morning. Mason stopped and frowned. He raised his head to look at me. After a while, he asked, “Does it hurt?” It was the second time that he had asked me that question. I kept quiet. A wave of emotions washed over me. Drip! A large teardrop the size of a pearl fell onto the ground. Wind billowed through the corridor. The silent and deserted corridor seemed even more empty. Even a mere acquaintance like Mason believed that I did not hurt Cindy. Mason even remembered that I hurt my hand too and had asked me twice if I felt hurt. Why wouldn’t he think the same way? How could he be so forgetful? How could he not remember any of it? How could he ask me to take care of his beloved when my hand was injured as well? He knew that I would be upset, and somehow he always managed to hurt me even more. I tried to pull back my hand from his hands. However, he held on to my hand tightly. “If you do not change your dressing, the wound will fester further.” Mason assumed his usual calmness and grabbed my hand firmly to treat my wound. I knew that he was not a nosy person. Did my situation warranted his pity, or was he treating me nicely because I was Theo’s wife? After changing my bandage, Mason remained silent and turned around to change the dressing of Cindy’s wound. I took out a few eggs from the refrigerator and fried them. I toasted a few pieces of bread and poured some milk. After preparing them, I divided the food into three portions and took it out to the living room. “Is this all that you are letting me eat?” Cindy asked with much dissatisfaction in her voice. “What else are you expecting?” I took a bite of my bread and looked at her impassively. “I don’t care. I want to have a large feast. I am calling Theo right now, and I am going to ask him to come back to cook lunch for me in the afternoon.” Cindy took out her phone after speaking.