A magnificent tree, cultivated with immense care, dominated the corner of the property, its sprawling branches providing a lush canopy over a bench that had been assembled and carved by hand. Kevin leaned back against the smooth wood of the bench, tilted his head toward the sky, and lit a cigarette. It felt unbelievably good to just sit here in his friend’s backyard and let his mind go blank; for a few moments, he was simply relaxing. But the mountain of problems he was barely managing to climb was already beginning to reclaim the territory of his thoughts.

The harder he pushed back against these intrusive worries, the more persistent and loud they became. He ground out his cigarette on a small ceramic saucer, propped his feet up on a decorative footstool, and stretched his arms out along the back of the bench. Just a few feet away, his friend stood at the grill, expertly flipping steaks and skewered vegetables.

– I just don’t get how you did it, man. – he began, his voice a low grumble. – Just up and divorced. And now you’re living the good life, not a care in the world, as they say. I’m at my wit’s end with my own.

– A shrew is a shrew, and that’s all she’ll ever be, constantly unhappy with everything. But what am I supposed to do? I can’t just divorce her like you did, I have business to consider. Can you believe it? The only reason I even got together with her was to secure a better financial future.

– Her great-grandmother had that enormous estate, you know, and rumors of untold fortunes in offshore accounts. The old lady, an Ivanson. Yeah, that’s right, a descendant of those Ivansons, the industrial tycoons with the same last name.

– Anyway, the gossip was that the old matriarch was on her last legs, and my Valerie, being the sole heir, was set to inherit everything. So, you know, I put in the effort, turned on the charm, swept her off her feet. I figured, hey, I can tolerate this for a little while, and then we’ll split everything down the middle in the divorce.

– But that old bat, she turned out to be tougher than a two-dollar steak. Can you believe it? She held on for another two years! – the man recounted with dramatic flair. He gesticulated wildly, his frustration boiling over, impossible to conceal.

He went on and on, his friend merely listening, not uttering a single word. Kevin continued his rant. – So, my Val, her maiden name was Ivanson too.

– Naturally, I assumed the old woman would leave everything to her. But get this—she bequeathed all the money to God knows who, some illegitimate son nobody had ever heard of. Can you wrap your head around that? I slept next to that plain-looking woman for two years, all for the dream of making a huge score and never having to work another day in my life.

– And it was all for nothing! – the man raged, clutching his head in his hands. – You’re selling your wife short, Kevin, – his friend said calmly, turning the steaks over once more. – She’s a good woman. Kind, attractive, a little reserved maybe, but that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Besides, she’s completely self-sufficient.

– Hell, she works like a Trojan, supports you, she even bought you that luxury SUV for eighty grand, and all you do is complain about her. A wife like that should be cherished, not criticized for a lost inheritance. My wife and I, we parted on good terms. We just fell out of love and decided to go our separate ways, – Owen said.

He paused for a moment, then decided to continue, even though he had never broached this specific topic with his friend before. – You should just talk to her, handle it peacefully and get a divorce. Because Valerie, as kind as she is, can retaliate in ways you can’t even imagine if you push her too far. And you really need to stop bringing your mistresses into your marital bed.

– Isn’t that a sin? – It’s a sin, but it’s a damn fun one, – Kevin roared with laughter. – A woman can’t be good if she’s smart, you get me? And Valerie is a smart woman, sometimes way too smart for her own good.

– I tell her she needs to be weaker, more submissive, to yield to her man, and she comes back at me with, ‘Well, who’s going to earn the money for this family then?’ But my Tiffany, she’s dumb. I mean, hopelessly, impenetrably dumb. A typical girl raised with three goals in life: get married, have kids, and live off her husband’s dime…

– Those are the kind of women you can twist around your little finger. All you have to do is promise them the moon, and they’ll string the stars for you themselves. She’ll build this whole fantasy in her head about the wedding, about the dozen kids you’ll have, and all you have to do is promise and nod along with her ridiculous requests.

– A woman like that walks right into a trap the moment she says ‘I do.’ Out of desperation to keep the family together, she’ll end up raising the kids, working like a horse for three people, and still doing all the laundry, cleaning, and cooking.

Kevin burst into laughter again, but Owen didn’t share his amusement. In truth, he didn’t want to associate with Kevin anymore, but he couldn’t bring himself to cut him off. They had been friends for too long, and Owen didn’t have anyone else.

– You know what you don’t understand about life, Owen? Women have a brain the size of a walnut, and it spins like a weathervane; whichever way the wind blows, that’s where they’ll go. You have to brainwash a woman so thoroughly that she’ll run unquestioningly in whatever direction you point her. And there are only two ways to rope a woman in for good.

– Marry her and get her pregnant. That’s it, she’s not going anywhere. If she’s a decent one, of course.

– But Valerie is definitely not normal. You can’t cook up a scheme with a woman like that, you can’t brainwash her. She thinks like a man.

– But we have to split up one way or another. Now that there’s no money coming from her, I can finally tell her to get lost. She’s useless to me.

– If I could just get her to sell the condo, I could squeeze some cash out of her. That would be a good start, – the man continued, helping his friend slide the cooked meat off the skewers. They kept talking.

But Owen tried his best to steer the conversation in a different direction. He hated listening to all of this. Valerie really was a good person.

Perhaps she was overly headstrong, confident, and independent. It seemed these were the very qualities that irritated Kevin so profoundly in his wife. It wasn’t the first time Kevin had confessed this to his friend, but Owen always tried not to take his words to heart.

Kevin walked home feeling far more dejected than when he had arrived at his friend’s house. It was as if he had left all his good spirits behind at that backyard table. He desperately wanted to get rid of his wife, but only if he could walk away with a substantial amount of money.

He kept waiting for fate to hand him such an opportunity. Kevin paused outside his apartment door. The last thing he wanted to do was go inside.

He pulled out his phone, dialed his mistress’s number, and invited her over. Valerie wouldn’t be back until the evening anyway, so they would have a good five hours. Besides, he couldn’t be bothered with the long trek across town to his mistress’s place.

And she was always ready to come running at his call, even from the other side of the world. This particular quality made her absolutely perfect for him. Kevin stepped into the apartment, which was impeccably clean and cozy.

He pressed a few buttons on the remote, and the air conditioning unit hummed to life. An hour later, there was a knock at the door. He opened it to find the lovely Tiffany, who looked at him with an adoration that bordered on worship.

Her eyes shone like twin beacons in the night. She loved coming to this apartment, secretly hoping that his wife would come home, catch them in the act, and flee in a flood of tears over her shattered family. Then, she could quickly swoop in and claim her prize.

– So, what’s the latest with your darling’s inheritance? – the girl inquired, pulling her lover down onto the bed. She was no less invested in that money than he was. After all, neither of them had any intention of working, and a hefty sum would easily solve all their financial problems…

But he cut her off, silencing her with a kiss. Soon, they were completely absorbed in each other. The front door opened, and his wife walked into the apartment.

The girl flinched and made to jump off the bed, but the man held her down with a firm hand. He waited until his wife walked into the bedroom.

– Lie down next to us! – the man said with a proud sneer. He was practically laughing in his wife’s face as she discovered him with his mistress. – What did you expect? You don’t have any money.

– And your looks are pretty average. What did you think you could hold me with? He roared with laughter, and Tiffany, contorting her face into a smug, rat-like grin, laughed along with him. But his wife’s response stunned them both.

– You are such a fool, Kevin. It was just a test. With me, you could have been wealthier than you ever dreamed.

– Goodbye. Like a true dog, you can stay here with your fleas. She turned and started for the exit.

Then, she suddenly spun back around toward them, smiled, and added. – Oh, that’s right. This is my condo. – What’s the matter, sweetie, surprised? – she asked, looking at the expression on her husband’s mistress’s face.

– I bet he spun you a lot of tall tales, didn’t he? About how rich he is? Well, now the two of you can go live in a cardboard box for all I care. But what shocked Tiffany far more than the woman’s words was her lover’s reaction. Kevin dropped to his knees before his wife and, wringing his hands, began to beg for forgiveness.

Not a single muscle twitched on Valerie’s face. She looked at him with the same detached expression, but the moment he touched her, her face filled with revulsion. She stepped back, and Kevin crawled after her on his knees, repeating over and over.

– Val, forgive me, Valerie, please forgive me! She smiled with just one corner of her mouth but said nothing more. He looked at her, cursing himself for letting his chance slip away. He had actually believed she had gotten nothing, when he could have just waited, made sure of the facts.

– Val, I love you so much! We’ve been together for years, Valerie! I’m a fool, the devil made me do it! She put a spell on me, Val! – he pleaded, continuing to grovel. But Valerie was unshakable. She watched out of the corner of her eye as her husband’s young mistress, stunned by his words and his pathetic confessions, sat motionless on the bed, naked, her mouth agape in shock.

She understood why he had chosen her—slim, beautiful, with artificially enhanced yet tasteful curves. What she couldn’t understand was why a girl with such looks would choose a man like Kevin. But then, like an old wound, another painful truth burst open.

While Valerie and Kevin’s relationship was crumbling, Tiffany hadn’t yet dared to reveal something she had planned to announce in a few days. “How can this be?” she whispered suddenly. Her words, so childishly naive and poignant, escaped her lips, and a stunned silence fell over the room.

They both stared at the girl, who was in such a state of shock that she hadn’t even thought to cover her nakedness. She shifted her gaze from the wife to her lover. But her next words were a far worse blow to him than his wife’s reaction.

– I’m pregnant, you know? – Tiffany said, her voice barely a whisper. It seemed as though she was only just beginning to process the shock. A few minutes ago, she had been laughing, echoing her lover’s cruel jokes.

Now, she could barely speak. Kevin, blindsided from both sides, was speechless. He remained on his knees before his wife, looking helplessly at his mistress.

She covered her face with her hands and burst into tears. Valerie found herself feeling a pang of pity for this unfortunate girl. She was so young and foolish.

She had fallen in love with him and believed all his fairy tales. Valerie silently walked around her kneeling husband. She picked up a sheet from the floor and draped it over the girl, who then began to cry even harder.

And Kevin just sat on the floor, his head bowed low. Valerie thought that the whole situation, seen from the outside, must look absurd and idiotic. It was like a scene straight out of a bad joke.

There was the husband with his mistress, and the mistress pregnant by the husband. Only for some reason, it wasn’t funny at all. It was an hour before Valerie was finally left alone.

Her husband had packed his things and left with his mistress. Valerie remained sitting on the edge of the bed. Had this really just happened? Why had she been so afraid to file for divorce first? The world hadn’t collapsed.

She stood up, feeling as though her legs wouldn’t support her. They felt like cotton, somehow porous and weak. She made her way to the sofa and sank into its soft cushions.

It was all over.

Kevin sat at an old, rickety table. Exactly two weeks had passed since his wife had finalized the divorce, and he had been left without a penny to his name.

He had gotten absolutely nothing from the union. He could sit for hours, drowning his sorrows in cheap liquor, but he hadn’t taken a single step to resolve his situation. – Kevin, maybe you should get a job? We need to eat.

Rita said calmly, looking at her lover. They were now living in the apartment she rented. – You need to eat? Then you go get a job, – he snapped, refilling his grimy glass to the brim.

– You’re driving me crazy! Did I just leave one shrew to move in with another? If you keep nagging me, I’ll leave you too, – he said harshly. He glared at her with malice but saw only indifference in her eyes. She didn’t care anymore, just as his wife—now his ex-wife—had suddenly stopped caring.

– You know what? Maybe you should just go, huh? – Tiffany said. – Pack your things and go wherever you want.

– I was a fool to ever believe you! The only people I’m ashamed in front of now are your ex-wife and my future child, for choosing someone like you. I’m not going to pity you, console you, or feed you. Get out! – Tiffany repeated.

Enraged, stunned, and utterly bewildered, the man slammed his fist on the table. It groaned ominously, nearly collapsing under the force. He quickly threw his belongings into a duffel bag and walked out of the apartment, unaware that he would never return. He was furious…

Hatred boiled within him. But then, a brilliant idea struck him. He stopped in his tracks and burst out laughing, replaying the idea over and over in his mind.

It was the perfect plan for revenge. His spirits lifted, but a few problems remained. First, to carry out his plan, he needed to get to the location.

Second, he had to get away from there as quickly as possible. Kevin no longer had his car, and Owen had cut all ties with him. He decided to take public transportation.

It would be a long journey, but it was the better option, and it might even help provide him with an alibi if needed. Kevin made his way to the bus terminal, bought two tickets for connecting routes, and waited for his bus to arrive. A dark blue bus with a white stripe, its windows covered in dark tint, pulled around the corner.

It rattled slightly, looking as if it might fall apart mid-journey. But no one was surprised; in this city, most of the public transit system was held together with duct tape and a prayer. Kevin waited his turn and boarded the old bus, which was filled with the smell of old socks, sweaty feet, and a cloying mix of cheap perfumes.

He found a seat and popped a piece of mint gum into his mouth to ward off motion sickness. He had dropped his duffel bag off with an old acquaintance before leaving, so he wouldn’t have to carry it with him. He reached the affluent rural town relatively quickly.

All that was left was to find the house his ex-wife had inherited from her great-grandmother. Kevin wandered through the village until he found the place. It was a massive mansion with turrets, ornate fences, and crossbeams.

It looked like something out of a fairy tale, a stark contrast to the standard suburban houses surrounding it. At that moment, Kevin had no idea how many problems his imperfect revenge would cause. He noticed that the house appeared to be unoccupied.

He spent half the day circling the property, monitoring for any activity, but there was none. When night fell, Kevin slung a gas can, which he had stolen from an old acquaintance a few streets over, onto his shoulder. Stealing was easy these days.

Many of the town’s wealthy residents were still away for the season. Kevin snuck onto the property and began his act of vengeance. He trembled with a mix of excitement and glee, picturing his wife’s face when she learned that her precious great-grandmother’s mansion had been burned to the ground.

When the magnificent wooden house caught fire, no one noticed anything suspicious at first. It seemed the neighboring houses were also empty. But when the flames engulfed a large portion of the structure and the blaze became visible from a distance, people began to stir.

They immediately called the fire department, formed a bucket brigade, and tried to douse the flames until help arrived, but the mansion could not be saved. Doused in gasoline, the house had burned substantially before the fire trucks arrived, leaving behind nothing but a blackened skeleton. Early the next morning, as a police car pulled up to the property, Kevin stood on a street corner, watching the scene unfold.

He kept waiting for his wife to arrive at the scene of the crime. But she never came. He nervously bit his nails as a tall, thin man got out of a car, followed by a stockier man who bore a slight resemblance to the first.

Kevin decided it was time to leave. Who knew what the police might find. Maybe he had left traces behind.

The bus arrived at the station two hours later. A sizable crowd had gathered, but Kevin didn’t get a chance to leave. He was flanked by two men who escorted him to a police car.

Driven by his desire for revenge, Kevin had made a series of unforgivable mistakes, which provided the police with irrefutable proof of his guilt. At the station, Kevin demanded that his ex-wife be brought in. The officers exchanged puzzled glances, unsure what to make of it.

But Valerie, upon learning what had happened, decided to come on her own to speak with her ex-husband. Kevin would never forget that conversation. He sat handcuffed to a table, staring through a thick pane of glass at Valerie, who now seemed far more beautiful to him than she ever had during their marriage.

He looked at her, saying nothing. His eyes burned with anticipation. He was just waiting for her to break down in tears, mourning her grandmother’s house.

– You didn’t just burn down my great-grandmother’s mansion; you destroyed a piece of history, the famous Ivanson estate. I hope you’re satisfied, but I also hope you understood what you were doing. I sold that mansion six months ago, almost immediately after I inherited it.

– You see, a huge wooden house requires meticulous upkeep, and I had neither the time nor the desire to deal with it. I sold the house to the person who offered the highest possible price. That was Donovan.

She had only to say the name for Kevin to realize the monstrous mistake he had made. He stared at his wife. His eyes widened and filled with sheer terror.

He looked at her, unable to utter a single word. Valerie stood up and left the room, and he was taken to a cell. He had burned down the house of Donovan, the infamous billionaire with a ruthless and often frightening reputation…

In that moment, the man understood that he wouldn’t be getting off with a simple suspended sentence. And he was right. He received a substantial prison term.

Kevin was released from prison five and a half years later.

He had cursed his desire for revenge every single day he was incarcerated. Filled with despair and loneliness, he had counted the hours and minutes until his release. Now, the prison gates swung open, and he walked out a free man.

But he had nowhere to go. He temporarily crashed with an old acquaintance, found a job as a loader in a warehouse, and a month later, rented a tiny room in a crowded, run-down boarding house. It was all he could afford on his meager salary.

He barely had enough for food. Kevin decided to find Tiffany. Who would want his former mistress, especially with a child to care for?

He tried calling her number, but it was no longer in service. He went to her old address, but Tiffany wasn’t there either. It was the old women gossiping on the porch who told him that she had moved in with some guy and was now living over in Applewood Creek.

Kevin made his way there, but he was astonished when he saw Tiffany in a park with an infant, not a five-year-old child. When she saw him, she showed no reaction, as if they had never known each other. “I… uh, I wanted to ask about the child,” Kevin stammered.

He was lying, and she knew it. He didn’t care about any child. He was just looking for any excuse to reconnect with her.

He couldn’t stand living in that crowded boarding house any longer. “There is no child of yours. I lost him at four months because of all the stress.

So you can get out of here. I know you’re not supposed to say these things, but I’m glad that fate saved me from a person like you, even if it meant losing my baby,” Tiffany said. She had lost her former allure.

The passion, the spark, the vivacity that had once attracted him were all gone. Tiffany interrupted his thoughts and said, “Leave. I’ve been married for three years; we just had this little one.

You’re not wanted here. And you didn’t come here because of a child; you came to leech off me. Don’t even try to deny it, I know it’s the truth.”

He left because he had no arguments. He knew she was right, though he had never believed she would be able to build a life for herself. Tiffany had always been so flighty, so irresponsible, that the news of her marriage seemed comical.

But maybe time really had changed her. Tiffany seemed completely different—calm, restrained, gentle. She now possessed all the qualities he claimed to value in a wife.

Kevin returned to his room and put in his headphones to drown out another fight between his neighbors. He wondered how he was going to get his life back on track, and preferably, have someone else do it for him. The next day, he decided to pay a visit to his ex-wife.

She had always suffered from an excess of kindness and sympathy. Maybe he could stir up some old feelings, or maybe she would forgive him and take him back. The latter option was preferable, but Kevin knew the chances were close to zero.

He got ready and suddenly realized he didn’t know where to go. She certainly wouldn’t be living at the old address. She had sold the condo.

It took him more than an hour to dig up the truth. Through a few connections, he found his ex-wife’s new place of residence. He didn’t head there until the afternoon, not knowing the apartment number or even which entrance to use.

He only knew the street and the building number. Getting her phone number would have been much easier. Kevin quickly reached the city center and sat down on a bench at a playground.

Valerie was never a homebody, so she was bound to appear at some point, heading to another meeting, a class, or a workshop. But there was no sign of her. Kevin was starting to get nervous when he saw an expensive, brand-new car, looking like it had just rolled off the assembly line, pull up.

He froze, expecting some portly, middle-aged man to emerge. But to his astonishment, his ex-wife stepped out of the driver’s seat. She opened the door, got out, and locked the car.

– Valerie! – he shouted to get her attention. Her hair was much longer, but her skin was paler than before. She hadn’t exactly grown younger, but she had become more beautiful…

Her appearance had taken on an aristocratic quality. He looked at her and realized what a fool he had been to let such a woman go. But Valerie felt nothing for him.

Prison had taken a heavy toll on Kevin, and there was no denying it. Yet she recognized him, even through the wrinkles, the dull skin, and the tattoos inked by the unsteady hand of a prison artist. Valerie stopped and waited for him to approach her.

He walked up and immediately became hesitant, unsure how to start a specific conversation. He didn’t know how to approach the subject without it ending like his talk with Tiffany. – I don’t know why you’re here, but whatever the reason, you’ve wasted your time, – Valerie said calmly.

– If you need money, then go get a job. You had your chance to live a comfortable life, but you chose a young mistress. You made your choice, and I accepted it.

– If you show up in this courtyard again, I’ll call the police, – Valerie stated. She tossed the keys from one hand to the other and walked toward the building entrance. She disappeared into the luxury high-rise, leaving Kevin standing there like a forgotten toy.

– So, the princess gave you the brush-off? – a teenager said with a laugh. – Hey man, don’t feel bad. She’s been living here a while, and she’s always alone.

– I don’t think she needs anyone. She’s, like… what do you call it… a billionaire, yeah! The teenager stood in front of Kevin. He froze at the word, his face a mask of disbelief.

– No joke, man! Where have you been for the last five years? Here, look! The kid pulled a phone out of his pocket, found a news article about Valerie, and shoved it under Kevin’s nose. And it was true; he had literally dropped out of life for the past five years. There had been a lot written about Valerie.

She had indeed become the youngest self-made female billionaire. Still chuckling, the kid walked away, leaving Kevin alone. He sat down on the bench and buried his face in his hands.

He wanted to weep with regret. If only he had controlled himself back then, if he had just thought for one minute about the consequences, he wouldn’t be sitting on this bench right now. He would be in a magnificent apartment in a luxury high-rise, driving an expensive car, and wouldn’t even have to think about work, let alone a job as a warehouse loader. Kevin cast one last glance at the high-rise and walked away.

He was dejected, but even more, he was furious with himself for throwing away his chance at happiness out of his own stupidity. Five years ago, he had a wealthy wife, a gorgeous mistress, and the chance to spend the rest of his life without working. But one mistake had led to a cascade of others.

And now? Now, neither his wife nor his mistress wanted him. He had a five-year prison sentence behind him, lived in a tiny room in a time-worn boarding house, and could barely make ends meet. He stood up and headed toward the bus stop…

– Wait, – Valerie said, having come back out of the building. She walked closer and pressed a thick wad of cash into his hands. – You may be a scoundrel, but so be it.

– Here’s a business card. Tell them I sent you. They’ll train you and give you a job. I’ve helped you, now do me a favor and don’t ever show your face here again.

Valerie walked away without even waiting to hear his words of gratitude. Kevin stood frozen with the thick stack of bills and the business card, feeling not only gratitude but also an overwhelming sense of guilt. He’d had a chance to fix everything, and he had squandered it.

Kevin stuffed the money into his backpack and trudged home, hoping that a new job would allow him to move out. And maybe, just maybe, it would be a chance to start over with a clean slate.