They Called Me Selfish for Asking Him to Feed His Own Son Chapter 10
What the hell?
I take a breath and open Messenger.
Messages everywhere. Work group chats, neighborhood groups, even college alumni groups I haven’t looked
at in years-all tagging me.
I click into my work chat. Someone from admin sent a link. [Clara, you’re trending. Look.]
I tap the link.
It opens a video on TikTok.
Millions of likes.
Derek sits on our living room couch, face heavy. Behind him, the wall is covered in gold plaques and
certificates.
“Hey, everyone. I’m Derek Shaw. I didn’t want to make this video, but I don’t have a choice. There’s something
I’ve been holding in for way too long. I’ve been donating for five years now. Every month, every penny goes to
charity. I’ve sponsored forty-two kids. Total donations over three hundred thousand. I’m not doing this for
attention. I just really believe that helping people is a blessing.”
He pauses. Lowers his head for a full five seconds.
Then looks up, eyes red. “But I never thought the person closest to me would be the one to tear everything
down. My own wife. Clara.”
“For five years, she’s been against me donating. She kept saying we should keep the money for ourselves,
that giving it away is just stupid. I told her over and over-we’re fine, we can afford to help. She wouldn’t
listen. She demanded I hand over my whole paycheck to her. Stop donating altogether. I said no.”
“So she picked a massive fight, then started blowing through our savings. My parents’ medical bills, our
son’s tuition-all of it, gone. Then she took off, leaving behind a mountain of debt. Didn’t hear a word from
her for six months.”
“My parents ended up in the hospital because their meds ran out. My son’s about to get kicked out of
preschool. I’ve done so much good in this world. I never thought this would be what I get in return.”
The video cuts to his mom in a hospital bed.
“I’m Derek’s mother. I have diabetes. Need insulin every day. My husband has a bad heart. Clara took all the
money before she left. Didn’t leave a cent for our meds.”
“After she disappeared, I went three days without insulin. My blood sugar hit over twenty. I was in a coma. Ten days in the hospital. Cost over forty thousand-all borrowed. I don’t understand. What did our family
ever do to her?”
His dad appears on screen. “My son has been married to Clara for seven years. We always treated her well.
The best of everything went to her first. Derek spent his whole life doing good. Never hurt anyone.”
“And somehow he ends up with a woman like that. Took everything, left us with nothing but debt. We can’t go
on like this. Clara, I’m asking you-why did you destroy us?”
