The Mysterious Revenge Wife

Despite how fickle and uncooperative Nicole might be, the woman was still a paying customer, so Rebecca forced herself to keep the smile on her face. "Well then, Derick, if you follow me, please."

"So you're in charge of my welcoming party, huh?" Derick said when they were a few feet away from Nicole.

"Yes," was Rebecca's simple answer. To stop Derick from discussing anything other than the party, Rebecca described to him what the actual party would look like.

Derick must have felt Rebecca's dismissal since he also focused on checking the place, sometimes nodding and asking questions Rebecca.

By the time they were finished, Rebecca felt relieved, happy even that a few minutes more and Derick and Nicole would be out of her way for the day.

But before Rebecca could give Derick back to Nicole, he stopped and looked at Rebecca.

"Do you have any more questions about the party?" Rebecca asked.

"No, it seems perfect enough," Derick answered. "You will pick me up before the party, right?"

"I will make sure that the company will provide you transportation that day." It wasn't a no and not a yes, either. Rebecca's job didn't include chaperoning a full-grown man around.

"Yes, but if you want the party to be a success, you'll come and get me yourself," Derick bantered, which made Rebecca pause. The man was right. He was the very reason Nicole organized the event in the first place!

"I'll pick you up at the said time, Derick," Rebecca conceded, her face stiff from keeping the smile on her face.

...

Rebecca had promised Raynor she would pick him up at seven at school that afternoon, but her appointment with Nicole and Derick didn't finish until seven that evening. Because of that, Rebecca messaged Raynor that she would be late, but still, she could have avoided being late had Nicole come at their appointed time. Then Raynor wouldn't have to stay at the library waiting for her.

At least, it was where Rebecca thought Raynor would be. So she was surprised to learn from the school security guard, the first person Rebecca met when she arrived at school, that Raynor was at the teacher's office.

"That's her!" Otis shouted as soon as Rebecca stepped inside, pointing his finger at her. Rebecca ignored Otis and looked at Raynor, who sat across from him instead.

"Raynor, what happened?" she asked and sat beside him.

Raynor made a sign that said he was alright.

The teacher, who was also inside the room, coughed to get Rebecca's attention. "I'm sorry for keeping Raynor here, Rebecca. It's just Otis here who has concerns about you." The teacher said, looking at Rebecca with curiosity and worry. The teacher was Raynor's homeroom teacher, and because of Raynor's particular circumstances, Rebecca had been in constant contact with her. The woman no doubt didn't want to put Rebecca in an awkward place, but she was also a teacher and had to do her part.

"I see," Rebecca answered slowly. No doubt Otis had reported the incident this morning to the teacher, but Rebecca wasn't worried. She, after all, knew a thing or two about revenge plots. Try as Otis might, he wouldn't be able to pin the blame on her or Raynor.

"Come on, Teach! Do something," Otis whined. "I'm telling you, she was the one who beat me up. Look at the bruises I have!"

The teacher cleared her throat. "Calm down, Otis," she gently chided the boy, and the latter shut up in anger. "Rebecca, do you know anything about this?" she asked.

"No," Rebecca said innocently. "I'm not sure what he's saying."

"She's lying!" Otis shouted. "Teach, you can see my wounds. They're proof enough that she hurt me!"

The teacher looked at Otis and Rebecca.

Rebecca, on her part, did her best to sound hurt when and worried at the same time when she said, "Otis, why ever would you tell your teacher I beat you up? You know I don't have any reason to hurt you."

"Yes, you do!" Otis answered before he could stop himself, making Rebecca, Raynor, and the Teacher look at him.

"What do you mean, Otis?" The teacher asked, unaware that Otis asked for a medical certificate so that he could bully Raynor.

"I—I m–mean…" Otis tried to explain, but the teacher was already looking at him suspiciously, making Otis stutter more. "I–It doesn't matter if she has. The fact is, she beat me up, and I want her punished!"

"Young man," the teacher said, "We don't punish anyone just because of assumptions. You know that!"

"Otis, are you sure you didn't get those wounds from playing with your friends?" Rebecca interjected before Otis could shout again. The latter was wasting her, Raynor, and the teacher's time.

"No, I didn't!"

If Rebecca didn't know the real reason why Otis was hurt, he would have believed Otis that he didn't get bruises while playing with his friends. With how little Rebecca knew Otis, she was eighty percent sure the latter didn't have any friends. If Otis had, they must have only stuck close out of fear of the boy.

"Then…" Rebecca paused purposefully, waiting for Otis, the teacher, and even Raynor to look at her in question. "Could you have gotten them from trying to skip class?"

Silence, short but very telling, descended on the room.

When Otis's teacher spoke next, it sounded firmer and suspicious, "Otis, is that true?"

"No!" Otis choked. "No, of course not! Oh, forget this! I'm leaving!"

The boy didn't look at the teacher and scrambled to get his bag and ran from the office.

‘And that is how you win a fight!' Rebecca thought happily.

...

Otis slammed the car door shut and faced his uncle, Derick. "That woman threw and beat me up, Uncle! Now my body is hurting. She even threatened me! Look." He raised his arms and rolled up his sleeve. "I have bruises all over. Can you give me another medical certificate?"

Derick barely glanced at Otis's arms before starting his car. "Not a chance."

"Uncle!"

"You lied to me once, kid. I'm not going to help you again."

"But Raynor's aunt beat me up this time. I even have wounds. Why can't you?" Otis whined.

"You should have thought about that before lying to me the first time, Otis," Derick answered, his voice indifferent. "You reap what you sow."

Otis started protesting, grumbling and mumbling any excuse he could use to persuade Derick into helping him, but the voice of the man who sat in the back seat stopped him, "Enough, or I'll send you back to your mom's house."

Otis shut up, and he remained quiet and still until they returned home.