But one day, when I came home earlier than expected, I caught her secretly eating a bowl of spoiled rice mixed with fish heads and bones. What followed shocked me even more…
That afternoon, there was a power outage at work, and our boss allowed us to leave at 11 o’clock.
I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to surprise my wife. On the way back to San Antonio, I stopped at a supermarket near the downtown market and bought a carton of imported milk, which was quite expensive. The doctor had said it would help her recover faster after giving birth.
I imagined her smile when she saw me early. That thought made me genuinely happy.
When I got home, the door was ajar.
The house was unusually quiet.
The baby might have finally fallen asleep. My mother had probably gone out for a walk or to chat with the neighbors, as she often did in the morning.
I entered discreetly, put the milk on the table and went to the kitchen to heat something up for my wife.
But when I reached the threshold…
I froze.
Lily was sitting in a corner of the table, her back hunched, eating quickly and nervously.
She clutched a large bowl to her chest and devoured the food as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Tears streamed down her face as she wiped them away, glancing towards the door as if afraid of being caught.
I frowned.
Why was she hiding?
I went in and asked sharply, “Why are you eating like this in secret? What are you hiding now?”
Lily jumped and dropped her spoon.
When she saw me, her face paled.
“Darling… why did you come home so early? I… I was just having lunch…”
I didn’t answer. I bent down and took the bowl she was taking from me.
And when I looked inside…
My heart almost stopped.
