Beatrice had been predisposed to overweight. When she got married to Wesley, she stopped watching her weight completely. As such, she became completely obese before she realized it, and Wesley would often taunt her for it. "You look like a piece of ham," was what he would say when he saw her wearing tight-fitting clothes.
Outside of home, Wesley did not make any attempt to hide his disdain for Beatrice. Whenever he brought her out for parties, people would whisper behind their backs, and Wesley would often take his anger out on Beatrice, claiming that she was embarrassing him. He would also put her down at every opportunity. One day, for example, Wesley invited his friends for dinner at a restaurant to celebrate his promotion and brought Beatrice along. He ordered roasted pork. When the dish arrived, he wasted no time in comparing Beatrice with dish. "Oh, pork. Honey, look, isn't this your relative?" he said unkindly. Beatrice was clearly embarrassed. Wesley's friends told him not to be mean to his wife, but he was relentless in his put-downs. Disgusted by his behaviour, Wesley's friends left the restaurant without dining, which he blamed Beatrice for yet again. She was left to sob in silence, wondering how her husband, whom she loved dearly, could he so mean to her. Nevertheless, she endured the meanness out of her love for Wesley. However, this seemed to embolden him, whose meanness graduated from making hurtful comments to doing hurtful things.
One day, Wesley and Beatrice were going out for the movies. When Beatrice came back after getting popcorn, she saw Wesley chatting comfortably with another woman. This cut Beatrice like a sword, as Wesley had never behaved in this manner with her. "Wesley?" she called out. "I'm sorry, my maid is waiting for me. See you later," he said to the woman. Beatrice angrily confronted Wesley about what she had seen, to which he shamelessly said that he would date her if he wanted to. Hearing this, Beatrice was enraged. She raised her hand to strike, but Wesley held her hand. "Beatrice Lam Sze-ying. You should be ashamed that you look like a pig when you haven't reached 30. There's nothing wrong with eyeing normal, beautiful women. And be grateful I still want to be with you despite your physique." Beatrice was heartbroken by Wesley's hurtful words and actions, but once again, out of her love for him, she was determined to save their marriage at any cost. "Okay, I'll do anything for him to love me," Beatrice muttered under her breath. So she started researching on how she could lose weight fast. She started drinking smoothies instead of eating normal food. Still, Wesley was relentless in his put-downs.
"Wow, I know cows live on grass, but I haven't seen one eat it before," he smirked. "Please stop it," Beatrice pleaded. "I'm trying to get in shape like you wanted of me. Why can't you just be supportive?" "Well, did you need my support getting fat?" Wesley said unkindly. Still, Beatrice was blind to his meanness. She started doing everything she could, and even booked 2 sessions of anti-cellulite massage in a row to expedite her weight loss, despite doctors' recommendations not to do so. She also neglected her own health. Despite having worked herself to the point of exhaustion, Beatrice did not get the results she wanted. To add insult to injury, Wesley would not stop ridiculing her. However, to further expedite her weight loss, Beatrice stopped eating altogether, and only drank water. Those weight loss efforts, on top of Wesley's constant ridicule, wore her down and one day, she passed out right on the street.
When Beatrice came to, she found herself face to face with a doctor. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry. You're in the hospital," she said.
"What happened to me?" Beatrice asked weakly.
"Your body is exhausted, we had to put you on a drip. You'll have to stay here for a while. My colleague will see you in an hour," the doctor replied.
"Has my husband come by?" Beatrice asked.
"We called him 2 hours ago, but he hasn't shown up. Stay in bed and rest. You really need it now," the doctor said. Beatrice called Wesley every 10 minutes after she got her phone back, but he would hang up the phone each time. Just then, Jeanie, a fellow patient beside Beatrice, sat up. She looked gaunt.
"He hung up on you, didn't he?" Jeanie asked, with a look of concern.
"Yes," Beatrice replied, with tears in her eyes.
"But you're here because of him, right?" Jeanie continued.
"How do you know?" Beatrice asked.
"Many women end up in this unit after trying dangerous weight loss methods, and their partners are often the ones to blame," Jeanie explained.
"What about you?" Beatrice asked, her eyes widened.
"Me too," Jeanie replied, with tears in her eyes. "As you can see, I managed to lose weight. I wanted nothing more than for my husband to love me. But when I got what I wanted, I didn't feel happy. He even left me for another woman. My extra weight wasn't the problem, it turned out. It doesn't matter how much you weigh if you allow others to determine your self-worth." After hearing Jeanie's story, Beatrice finally understood everything. So when Wesley showed up 2 days later, Beatrice was no longer welcoming towards him.
"What happened?" Wesley asked with a fake concern.
"It's taken you 2 days to come here," Beatrice said angrily and pointed at him.
"Then what do you want? For me to drop everything and rush to visit you?" Wesley retorted without a shred of remorse.
"No, there's no need for that. I wanted to tell you that I'm filing for divorce," Beatrice continued in an angry tone. Wesley was stunned for a few minutes, but after that, he became angry.
"What? Beatrice Lam Sze-ying, are you out of your mind? I am already with you when you are a fatty. Who would ever need you except me?" Wesley continued, still without a shred of remorse.
"I need me. That's enough for me. Get out of here or else," Beatrice said angrily. Wesley stormed out of the ward angrily. "Good job. I'm proud of you, sister," Jeanie said with a look of pride. "You and this hospital helped me see his true colours. Thank you," Beatrice replied.
Soon after her discharge from the hospital, Beatrice filed for divorce, which was finalized quickly and painlessly. She also took most of what Wesley was worth. "You'll be very sorry. Even if you crawl back to me, I won't take you back," he threatened as he stormed out of the house. "Screw you," Beatrice replied, ignoring her ex-husband's threat. She realized that she was perfectly comfortable in her current weight, and started exercising to stay healthy. She also befriended Jeanie, and together, they learnt how to live their lives with self-love and self-acceptance, free from the "extra weights" of their ex-husbands for good.
