Both families were present. My father was sitting next to Ryan’s father, talking loudly about their new business deal.
In front of all the guests, Margaret ordered me to bring her birthday cake.
I went upstairs and came back a few minutes later dressed in my school uniform.
The whole room fell silent.
He wasn’t carrying any cake in his hands.
I placed on the table a copy of the document that bore my father’s signature, my wedding ring, and a copy of the petition filed with the court.
“I’m going back to school,” I said. “You can continue with your business agreement without me.”
My father jumped to his feet. Margaret started shouting that I wasn’t going anywhere.
At that moment, the front door opened.
Helen entered accompanied by my tutor teacher and a representative from the support center.
But the biggest surprise came with Helen’s last words.
In front of everyone, she announced that she legally owned forty percent of Ryan’s father’s company thanks to an inheritance from her late grandmother. Without Helen’s signature, the agreement with my father had no legal validity.
And Helen had never signed it.
Ryan’s father had forged his signature.
That night, not only did my marriage collapse, but the entire business deal for which my father had sacrificed me also fell apart.
I left that house carrying the same school backpack that my mother had hidden inside a suitcase before the wedding.
A few months later, I returned to school.
