On our first anniversary, I gave Melanie a rose, but she laughed, called it pathetic, and tossed it aside. She had no idea what it really meant. Later that night, she discovered my real gift… and her world shattered. By then, it was too late to save our relationship.
Valentine’s Day wasn’t just another holiday filled with chocolates and roses. For Melanie and me, it also marked our first wedding anniversary.
A man relaxes on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
It had seemed like a great idea when she suggested we get married on Valentine’s Day; the ultimate romantic gesture.
But when I started thinking about what to get him for our first anniversary AND our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, I realized the intense pressure I was putting myself under.
Melanie was always very demanding, she wanted the best things in life, but I loved her despite everything.
A man looking lovingly at his wife | Source: Midjourney
Before our marriage, I had worked countless hours of overtime, climbing the corporate ladder, determined to meet his demands.
This birthday was no different. It was supposed to be special, a day she would remember for years to come… or at least until next year, when I would have to come up with something even better.
I spent months thinking about what to get Melanie to impress her, and I finally realized I already had the perfect gift!
A man smiling excitedly | Source: Midjourney
All I had to do was work on the presentation.
I finally came up with the perfect plan. Waiting for his reaction had kept me awake for weeks, but finally, the big day had arrived.
I filled our living room with string lights and lit some of her favorite scented candles. When she came home from work, I asked her to cover her eyes and led her into the living room.
A woman partially covering her eyes with her hands | Source: Midjourney
“Oh! That’s… pretty,” she said when I told her she could look.
Her hesitant response set my nerves on edge again, but before I could say anything, she gave me a radiant smile and insisted we exchange gifts immediately.
“Wait here,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I sat down on the couch, near where I had hidden his present.
A nervous-looking man sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
She came back and sat down next to me.
“On three?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. The moment felt surreal, like a dream I couldn’t grasp.
Melanie nodded and closed her eyes, her signature smile playing on her lips.
“One…” she said, and I quickly took out her present to hide it behind my back. “…two…three!”
We revealed our gifts simultaneously.
A living room decorated with fairy lights | Source: Midjourney
Melanie held out a set of car keys decorated with a red bow. I stared at them in shock, unable to believe what I was seeing.
“A car? You bought me a car?” I asked, taking the keys.
I was so stunned that I didn’t notice until too late the disgusted look she was giving the single red rose I was holding out to her.
Close-up of a red rose | Source: Pexels
“Are you kidding me?” She held up the rose like it was a week-old piece of trash. “Is that all? Is that what I deserve after all these years? A pathetic little rose? You couldn’t even buy me a proper gift?”
His face had distorted into something ugly, something I had seen too many times before but always chose to ignore.
That look combined with his complete rejection of my gift cut me deeply.
A dejected man sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
“It’s not just a rose…” I mumbled, but she silenced me with a flash of her angry eyes.
“You’ve always been poor,” she spat, her words cutting me more than ever, “and you still act like it. Do you even know who you married?”
She tossed the rose aside as if it meant nothing and snatched the car keys from my hand.
A rose lying on a carpeted floor | Source: Pexels
She turned them over in her palm, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “Oh, and these? They’re not from me. My dad gave me the car. I was just being generous. Obviously, I’m the only one making an effort in this relationship.”
The weight of her words hit me like a physical blow. The car—the extravagant gift that had shocked me—wasn’t even from her.
Of course, that wasn’t the case. She had never been one to spend money on others when she could do it for herself.
An upset man sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
I sat frozen as years of memories rushed through my mind. All the times I’d tolerated his harsh words and convinced myself that love meant patience.
All the overtime I worked, believing that if I gave her enough, she’d finally consider me enough. All the parties where my gifts were met with barely veiled disappointment, all the dinners where she subtly mocked my background in front of our friends.
But watching her throw away my gift like it was worthless, something shifted inside me.
A tense couple sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
The woman standing before me was a stranger. Had she always been this cruel? Had I simply refused to see it?
This realization hit me like ice water. This marriage, this relationship, everything we had built together was based on a lie I had told myself.
Later that evening, our house filled with family and friends for our birthday dinner. Conversations and laughter bounced off the walls, glasses clinked, and music hummed in the background.
Guests at a party | Source: Pexels
Melanie was back to her usual self: charming, cheerful, absorbing attention like a flower in the sun. She floated from group to group, telling everyone about the car her father had given her, carefully omitting to mention the rose.
I sat in a corner, drinking a glass of whiskey, unable to stop staring at the unopened box on the table. The real gift. The one that had taken months of planning and years of saving.
A simple gift package on a table | Source: Pexels
Did any of this still matter? Today’s events had been a wake-up call, and I had already begun planning my next move.
“Wait… so you didn’t even open his real present?!” My sister’s voice cut through the chatter, sharp with disbelief.
She stood in the corner with Melanie, arms crossed, eyes wide with shock.
A woman staring in shock | Source: Midjourney
What do you mean, “her real gift”? Melanie’s head tilted toward me, her perfectly shaped eyebrows drawing together. “There’s another gift?”
I leaned back in my chair, surprising myself with how calm I felt. “He’s not for you anymore.”
But she had already spotted the small, unopened box.
A woman staring at something | Source: Midjourney
Without hesitation, she pounced on it and tore it up in front of everyone. Our guests fell silent, watching the scene unfold.
The puzzle pieces fall onto the polished dining table. His lips curl in a puzzled mockery.
“What’s this?” She laughed, cruel and mocking, turning the coins over in her hands. “More dollar store gifts?”
Then she notices the small card inside the box.
A woman staring in shock | Source: Midjourney
Her laughter abruptly died away as she pulled it back, her eyes searching the words. Her face drained of color.
“I-Isn’t true,” she stammers, her voice barely above a whisper.
The puzzle wasn’t made up of random pieces: it was a photo of a house. Our house. The house I had secretly bought for us, spending months finding the perfect property, negotiating the price, and arranging the mortgage.
A small suburban house | Source: Pexels
I had designed it as a place for our future, with a rose garden in the backyard. The single rose I gave her came from that garden. It was to symbolize what I had built for us. A new beginning. A new life.
The room fell silent as I stood and took a step toward her. “Yes, Melanie. I bought us a house. A real house.” My voice was firm and assured. “The rose wasn’t just a flower. It was a promise of the future I planned to build for you, of the life I wanted to give you.”
An emotional man speaking to someone | Source: Midjourney
Her mouth opened, but no words came out. For once in her life, Melanie was speechless.
“But after what you said tonight?” I met his wide, tear-filled eyes. “I have no desire to give it to you. And no desire to live in it with you.”
His face fell.
“Wait, no-” she gasped, holding out shaky hands to me. The perfect wife facade finally cracked completely.
A woman begging someone | Source: Midjourney
I took a step back, out of his reach. “It’s too late. Tonight, I saw what it truly cost to live by your standards, and how quickly you turned on me when you thought I wasn’t up to it. I’m filing for divorce.”
The moment I said it, a weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying lifted off my chest. Years of trying to be enough, of bending to his expectations, of swallowing my pride, were gone.
“Wait, can we talk about this!” she begged, her voice cracking. “I was just upset! I didn’t mean it! Please, you can’t do this to me!”
A woman yelling at someone | Source: Midjourney
I shook my head and walked past her. I’d spent years giving her everything I could, and she’d spent years proving it was never enough.
As I walked away, her screams turned to sobs, then to moans, and finally to silence.
My footsteps echoed through the home we had shared, beyond the memories we had made, and toward a future that suddenly seemed lighter, clearer, more real than anything we had built together.
An emotional man | Source: Midjourney
Read also: My mother found out my wife was treating me like a housekeeper since I started working from home and she made him regret it
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the story. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims regarding the accuracy of events or character portrayals and are not responsible for any misinterpretations. This story is provided “as is,” and all opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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