At a charity auction, my husband decided to joke and put me up for auction: “Dinner with my interesting wife, starting bid: just one dollar.”. The guests started laughing and vying with each other to bid, turning the whole thing into a ridiculous entertainment, until suddenly a stranger stood up from the back row and did something that left the entire room frozen in sh0ck….
It was the annual charity auction for the company where my husband worked. It was happening just before New Year’s, when people especially like to pretend they’re kind and generous.
I sat at a round table in an immaculate dress, my hair neatly styled, a glass of champagne in front of me. From the outside, I might have appeared calm and confident, but inside, a strange, uneasy feeling had been lurking for a long time. On such evenings, my husband always became different – loud, smug, overly confident in his ability to do anything.
As usual, he was the center of attention. He darted from one group of guests to the next, laughing louder than anyone else, shaking hands, and catching everyone’s eye. Approaching me, he leaned over and, with a beaming smile, whispered that he had prepared “a little surprise” for the auction.
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