A JEALOUS MISTRESS WHO KIDNAPPED HIS WIFE BECAUSE HE SUSPECTED HER OF HAVING A BITCH BECAUSE OF THEIR SECRET PHONE CALLS EVERY NIGHT, BUT WHEN HE SAW THE ENVELOPE LEFT, HE KNEW THAT THE “BITCH” WAS A LAWYER

It was night again in Romy and Linda’s small and warm rental house in Caloocan. Romy came home smelling of alcohol, a construction worker who was always short-tempered because of the hardships of life. Linda, a simple laundress, was covered with a blanket in the corner, talking on her cellphone in a whisper.

“Yes… tomorrow… is that for sure? Okay, we’ll meet at the old meeting place,” Linda whispered into the phone.

Romy heard this. Her vision went dark. She had been noticing these calls for several nights now. Eleven o’clock at night. Whispering. Hide.

Romy grabbed the blanket. “Who are you talking to?!” she shouted.

Linda was shocked. She quickly hid the cellphone under the pillow. “W-No Romy. Just a friend.”

“Friend?! Eleven o’clock at night?! Am I stupid?!” Romy grabbed Linda’s hair. “You have a boyfriend, right?! That’s why you always have no time for me! That’s why you’re always so lethargic! Who is that?! Pareng Nestor?! Kumpareng Berting?!”

“Romy, I’m hurt! Let me go!” Linda cried. “I don’t have a boyfriend! Listen to me first!”

“I don’t want your explanation! I’m so sick of your lies!”

Romy dragged Linda to the door. She flung it open. It was raining heavily outside, along with the woman’s tears.

“Get out! Go to your man! Don’t come back here! Take your clothes with you!”

Romy threw Linda’s clothes outside the door. They were soaking wet in the mud.

“Romy, you’re so pitiful…” Linda pleaded as she knelt in the rain. “I have something to tell you… this is for us…”

“We don’t have ‘us’ anymore! Get out before I smash your face!”

Because of fear and heartache, Linda slowly stood up. She wiped the tears and mud from her face. She stared at Romy for the last time. Her eyes were no longer filled with fear, but with pity.

“Okay Romy,” Linda said softly. “If that’s what you want. I hope you’re happy with your decision.”

Linda turned and walked away into the darkness of the rain, carrying a small plastic bag.

Page: SAY – Story Around You | Original story

Romy slammed the door shut. “Good for you! Did you think I would chase you? I’ll find someone else!”

Romy sat on the sofa, panting with anger. She grabbed a beer. “Traitor,” she whispered.

She noticed that Linda had left something under the pillow where she had hidden her cellphone earlier. A long brown envelope.

“What’s this? A letter from her boyfriend?” Romy grinned. “Let’s see how flirtatious my husband is.”

She tore the envelope open.

When the contents came out, Romy’s jaw dropped. The beer bottle fell from her hand and shattered on the floor.

This is not a love letter.

This is an Official Document from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

The paper stated:
“Confirmation of Jackpot Prize Claim”
Date: October 24, 2025
Amount: PHP 245,300,000.00 (Two Hundred Forty-Five Million Three Hundred Thousand Pesos)
Claimant: Erlinda ‘Linda’ Santos

Underneath it, there was a Post-it note handwritten by Linda:

“Romy, my dear,
This was supposed to be a surprise for you tomorrow. I won the Lotto last week. I was talking to Atty. Rodriguez earlier about our claim tomorrow morning. I was planning to buy the land in the province that you dream of, and build a business so that you won’t have to struggle with construction anymore. We were supposed to get out of poverty. This is the answer to our prayers. Happy Anniversary.”

Romy’s whole body trembled. The “man” Linda was talking to was the lawyer. The “meeting place” was the PCSO office.

Romy ran out the door. “LINDA!!! LINDA!!!”

She ran down the alley. She was soaked from the rain. She looked for her husband in the jeepney. She looked for him at the terminal.

Linda was gone.

All she saw was the Grab Car Linda was riding in.

She called Linda’s cellphone, but it could not be reached. Her husband had changed his sim card.

The next day, Romy found out from a neighbor that Linda had left for another country with her parents. No one knew where.

Romy was left behind in the small rental house. Holding the torn envelope. The million-dollar dream she had hoped to hold, vanished like a bubble because of one night of jealousy and distrust.

Now, every time Romy sees a Lotto bet, she just cries. Because he knew, he could have been the luckiest man in the world, but he threw the Winning Ticket—his wife—out the door, straight into the mud.

In the end, it turns out that the biggest defeat in life is not not getting the number right, but doubting the person who is willing to give you the world.