Bella stormed into the house with anger written all over her face. She could hardly wait to tell her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth, about her terrible encounter with her so-called daughter-in-law and her strange lover.
"Mom! Mom! The worst has happened!" Bella called out as she kicked off her shoes and hurried into the living room.
Her mother, who had been knitting in her favorite armchair, looked up in surprise. "Bella, what is it? Why are you yelling? Did you have a fight with someone?"
Bella put the blender down on the floor and stood in front of her mother. "Mom, you won’t believe what I just saw today, not up to an hour ago."
"What is that?" Her mom curiously asked as she stopped what she was doing.
"I was going to buy the blender, and I saw Daniella." Bella answered.
"Daniella? What happened? She got into a fight with you?"
"No, not that. I saw her laughing and holding each other... it was so disgusting!"
"What? What are you saying? Daniella... was with another man?" She asked.
"Yes!" Bella exclaimed, pacing back and forth. "And she didn’t even try to hide it. When I confronted her, do you know what she did? She laughed at me. I told her she was cheating on Desmond, and I was going to tell him everything. And you know what she said? She said it didn’t matter because she’d already divorced him!"
"Divorced? She said that?" Mrs. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in shock.
"Yes!" Bella cried, throwing her hands in the air. "She said she’s already divorced Desmond and that she’s getting half of his property. Half, Mom! Can you believe the audacity? That girl wedded my brother just to get a divorce and claim all he has achieved." Bella said, and Mrs. Elizabeth's legs went soft, and she sank back into her chair. For a moment, she was silent, her thoughts racing.
Finally, she spoke up. "I warned him. I warned Desmond before the wedding, but he wouldn’t listen. I told him that Daniella will never make a good wife for him. And now, look at what has happened. It's obvious she only agreed to marry him because of his money."
"Mom, this is worse than I ever imagined. Daniella betrayed Desmond completely. She betrayed all of us. And what’s even worse is that she mocked me. She said we helped her get what she wanted. She thanked me mockingly because we supported her and convinced Desmond to divorce Annabel for her." Bella said and Mrs. Elizabeth closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her guilt was growing with every word Bella was saying.
"This is all my fault." She muttered. "I was the one who brought Daniella into his life. I introduced her to Desmond because I thought she was a good match for him. And when she got pregnant, I pushed Desmond to divorce Anabel and marry her instead. I thought I was helping him, but all I did was ruin his life." Her mother said, and she reached out and placed a comforting hand on her mother’s arm.
"Mom, don’t blame yourself entirely. Daniella fooled all of us. She played the perfect daughter-in-law, but we didn’t know what kind of person she really was." Bella said, and her mother shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I should have seen it, Bella. I should have known. A mother’s intuition is supposed to protect her children, and I failed Desmond. I let him walk into this mess because I thought I knew what was best for him."