\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGabriel, are you seriously planning to keep lying to Elena forever? She\u2019s been working as a waitress during the day and driving for rideshare at night just to pay off your debts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week she got soaked in the rain and ran a fever of 102 degrees, but she still wouldn\u2019t go to the hospital because of the money. How can you stand watching her suffer like this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My husband Gabriel\u2019s voice carried irritation as he replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVera had my kid, and since I can\u2019t marry her, the least I can do is give her everything I\u2019ve got. As for Elena, I\u2019ll stick around and take care of her for life think of it as making up for what I did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood there frozen outside our door, listening to every damn word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still holding my shitty paycheck, stomach full of stale gas station bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silent tears ran down my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So all the money I\u2019d made by destroying my health, all those dark circles from barely eating and working myself to death \u2013 hell, it was ALL just so he could set up his side piece with the good life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his whole perfectly planned future, there was NEVER any damn room for me!\u00a0<\/p>\n
After hearing those words, my chest felt like it was being carved up by a rusty dull knife, each breath tasting of blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Gabriel\u2019s company went belly up and his business partner screwed him over by taking all the cash, debt collectors were at our door throwing red paint everywhere. He was curled up on the ground with his head in his hands, saying he wanted to kill himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I started working as a waitress during the day, running a night market stall, then driving rideshare after that \u2013 all just to pay off his\u00a0<\/p>\n
debts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the scorching summer heat, I handed out flyers in 104-degree weather, my peeling sunburned back sticky with sweat. He held my hands and promised, \u201cOnce I get back on my feet, I\u2019ll make sure you live the good life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For five years, I bought discounted expired vegetables from the supermarket, boiling them over and over to get rid of the smell, while I gnawed on rock-hard bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said starting his business needed cash flow, so I secretly transferred all my savings into his account. I wouldn\u2019t even buy myself a $2.99\u00a0<\/p>\n
T-shirt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My shopping bag suddenly crashed to the ground with a loud rustle. Half a bag of rice mixed with wilted vegetables spilled out, the rotten leaves still stained with mud from when I\u2019d bargained with vendors. To save fifty cents, I\u2019d argued with that stall owner for ten minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharp, tearing pain suddenly shot through my lower back. I slid down the wall to sit on the ground as blood drops seeped through my pants, staining the concrete with dark spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel heard the noise and rushed out of the house, his pupils contracting when he saw the blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell happened to you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I grabbed his pant leg through gritted teeth, my voice shaking with pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
20.50\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater!\u00a0<\/p>\n
7.2%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cQuick\u2026 get me to the hospital. I think the baby\u2019s coming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel frantically pulled out his phone to call for an ambulance, and his fingers kept trembling over the keypad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they loaded me onto the stretcher, he stood in the hallway doorway looking relieved, like he\u2019d just dropped off some heavy burden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the delivery room, I woke up from the arguing family next to me after the anesthesia wore off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A nurse stood by my bed holding a bill, \u201cMrs. Hayes, your husband only paid the deposit. The rest of the fees need to be settled today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I dragged my IV-attached hand over to the nurses\u2019 station. From the end of the hallway came Gabriel\u2019s gentle voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet the kid into the best school, the best classes. If you need more money, I\u2019ll transfer it to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart clenched tight. I leaned against the wall and peered around the corner to see Gabriel looking tenderly at a mother and child in front of\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The diamond bracelet dangling from Vera\u2019s wrist was the \u201cclient gift\u201d he\u2019d mentioned last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That kid\u2019s outfit cost more than my monthly salary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, my baby was wrapped in rough hospital clothes, his little face red and irritated from the coarse fabric.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried to force a smile, but tears came first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So all my life savings I\u2019d gambled on helping him, all that blood money I\u2019d saved up while enduring pain \u2013 it was just funding his other family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s idea of \u201cgetting back on his feet\u201d NEVER included sharing any of it with me!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2661 (0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater! by Mark Twain 10 \u00a0 Chapter 1\u00a0 Chapter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cilantro-taste-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}