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Love Is Blind   (Part I )                    Contents

Before, I thought love was not blind at all. Since I saw my cousin Elias, I started to believe love is blind.

Elias loved his ex-wife Maria very much. He treated his ex-wife Maria as his empress or as his fairy and he as her servant. That was his desire: in his eyes Maria was the most attractive woman he had met. He would do anything for her; he didn’t care his family and friends complained, and advised, or how they looked at him. He didn’t have any doubt about his wife. He even transferred his bank account and property to her.

Elias was a businessman. He was a plain person; he never spent his money on any luxuries. He was completely an old style Chinese man; he dressed worn out clothes and shoes. If you didn’t know him, you would think he was poor man, he also never felt embarrassed: from his point of view, making and saving money were the most important things.

Elias came to Panama when was a teenager. Although he came to Panama was very young, he still practiced his customs. When he was about 20 he married Maria, who came from Hong Kong. He met his wife through a matchmaker and his family. His family sent Maria’s picture to him. When he saw Maria’s picture-wow! What a beautiful woman! Without a second thought he accepted his family marriage arrangement.

When his wife arrived at the airport Tocumen in Panama, Elias was very excited.

And he was anxious to know whether was his future wife as beautiful as she looked at in the photo. It was true. She was very beautiful. Elias was very happy that he could marry such a beautiful woman.

Love Is Blind (Part II)                                  Contents

One-year later Elias’ wife, Maria, had a baby girl, and the following year, she had another baby boy. Elias was very happy, even happy-go-lucky, beside his lovely wife, and now his daughter and son. He thought. GOD had not treated him so badly. He believed his wife brought him happiness and fortune, and he tried to satisfy his wife in every possible way. He thought, he had to work harder than before, when he was single. He needed a better financial situation to educate his children in their future. He invested in different businesses such as real state, a Laundromat, and a supermarket.

When his daughter and son graduated from high school, he sent them to receive their college education in the U.S. Elias had a desire for making money. He found that his businesses didn’t satisfy him. On one occasion, Elias met a friend, who was president of a factory, who invited Elias to invest in his factory. Elias thought it was a good opportunity to learn something new. So, he sold his businesses, and invested in his friend’s factory.

Elias became a smart man in a very short time. He learned all of the operations of machines and management. Elias never satisfied himself. He quit his partner, and established his own factory. As his business was running well, he wanted to increase his business activities. He went to Hong Kong to take a training course. He left his business and factory to his wife, Maria, to manage. (His factory was divided into two departments: a wholesale department and a production department). He loved his wife and he knew his wife was a capable businesswoman. She had been helping him with his business and factory for a long time. He never doubted about her competence.

Love Is Blind (Part III)                          Contents

When Elias finished his training course, he planned to return to Panama. He thought he could make more money with the course he had taken. He was full of desire for his future.

When Elias arrived home, he asked his wife about his business. His wife answered him “it was ok”. He also asked his nephew, whom Elias sent to help his wife, Maria, when he stayed in Hong Kong. His nephew looked at him and said, “uncle I have to tell you the truth, it is a very unpleasant thing, but I have to be honest with you. Your wife Maria isn’t as honest a woman as you imagined. In an unexpected occasion, I saw she was dishonest with you. She and her lover threatened me. They wanted me to keep the matter a secret and didn’t want me to tell you about their behavior, but I refused, they beat me severely; I couldn’t stand their savage hit. I lost my consciousness. They wrapped me up and threw me in a garbage tank. Fortunately, I recovered my consciousness at midnight when they couldn’t see me. I want to sue them.”

Elias loved his wife so much, and he said, ‘ I’m sorry for that. I’m embarrassed. I feel shamed that I am your uncle. Please don’t tell this unpleasant thing to somebody else. I don’t want to lose my reputation.I’m a businessman. I’ll give you some money for the damage they did to you. You better return to China. I don’t want this unpleasant secret to explode in the public.

Since then, Elias observed more about his wife and her lover, whom was Elias’ assistant. He pretended nothing had happened. He found out his wife pretended to ask his assistant some questions about the business, but her idea was to get close to him. They always stared at each other. Since Elias arrived at home he was out in the cold by his wife. He realized his nephew told the truth -his wife had fallen in love with his assistant.

Elias couldn’t believe that was the truth. He thought he had been treating her the best and satisfied her desire. There was no reason she had betrayed him. His beautiful dreams fell part. He was disappointed, heartbroken, angry, and confused. Because he was concern about his reputation, he didn’t want to anybody to share his pain. He drank alcohol to relieve his pain. He kept it and swallowed it himself. That caused his body to be out of order; his hair became gray in a sudden.

The worst thing was that, out of the blue, Maria asked him for a divorce and wanted to share his half fortune. That was a bolt from the blue to him (unexpected). Twenty years of marriage finished all of a sudden, that was a terrible nightmare to Elias. He never thought he and his wife’s love so delicate.

Love Is Blind (Part IV)                              Contents

Since Elias divorce his wife, at the beginning he had a very difficult time to relieve the pain of his divorced. His heart sank. But he didn’t want to do anything. He didn’t have the face to see his friends and family. His friends and family understood t his situation. They encouraged him. Finally with the support and concern from his friends and family, Elias stood up again. He thought they had a reason. He couldn’t to give up his whole forest for a tree. He was still young and had many things to do, and he had to show his manly attitude.

Since then Elias changed his lifestyle, he wore elegant clothes, drove a luxury car, he built a new house to live, and he took his time for pleasure with his friends. He even married a young woman who was a country girl. He thought the country girl was purer, conservative and reliable; furthermore he couldn’t remain single all his life. He had to forget all his unpleasant past.

One thing that was consoled him was his older daughter; she had been helping him since she graduated from the college. Elias believed nobody could be closer than his own flesh and blood.

From his experience he never let his new wife work at his business. She just played as a housewife, as a mother and a traditional Chinese’s wife, “ who takes care of her children and husband.”

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