**A Revenge Most Foul**
We lived together for thirty-five years. Nearly half a lifetime. James and Emily. It began like something from an old noveldancing in the rain, talking till dawn, dreaming of a house with a garden. Emily was slight, quiet, fragile in appearance but with a will of iron. James, ambitious, eyes always alight, forever chasing more.
We endured hardshipdebts, moving towns, losses. When James started his business from scratch, it was Emily who held everything togetherhome, children, bills, illnesses. When success finally came, bringing comfort and security, James fell in love. With his new secretary, leggy and bright, who laughed at his jokes and lingered a touch too long on his arm.
He acted swiftly. Hired expensive solicitors to keep the housethe one built brick by brick, restored by both our hands, where Emily had planted roses and stitched cushions. The home that had once been our shared dream.
The court gave the house to James. Emily had two months to leave. But she was gone in two days. No tears, no drama. Silent. She packed her bags, called the movers. And as her farewell, she scattered crumbs of boiled fishbehind curtains, under sills, inside the vents. Leftovers from the farewell supper shed made for herself, at an empty table.
James new love moved into the “dream home” days later. Everything seemed perfectlight, space, fireplace, veranda. But within a day, a foul stench seeped from the walls. Nothing could erase itnot scrubbing, not air fresheners, not even renovations.
The stench grew. They washed floors, replaced carpets, left windows open. Bought purifiers. Useless. Friends stopped visiting. No one could bear the smell.
James tried to sell. But word spread through the village. Buyers fled after ten minutes. Estate agents refused to help. The house had become cursed.
The couple took out a hefty loan for a new place. The money vanished. Then Emily called:
*”How are things, James?”*
*”Ruinous,”* he admitted, broken. *”The house wont sell. Were finished.”*
*”How odd,”* she replied, calm. *”You know, I miss that house. Would you sell it to me? For say, 10% of its worth?”*
James nearly wept with relief. He agreed instantly. Ten percent? A small price to be rid of the nightmare.
The next day, Emily arrived with a notary. Papers signed in minutes. The couple left for their new home. She stepped into the empty house, took a deep breathand smiled for the first time in years.
But the story wasnt over.
The couple decided to take everything from the old housefurniture, curtains, even the curtain rods! Especially the rods. James wouldnt leave a thing for his ex-wife. He dismantled them himself. And with them, he carried the source of the stench.
In their new home, the smell returned by morning.
Emily knew it would. And she never called again.
Now, in her house, she enjoys silence, clean walls, and roses in bloom. While James lives in a curse of his own making. For betrayal. For pride. For forgetting who stood beside him when he had nothing.
**Lesson learned: Karma isnt just a wordits a reckoning.**
