The wallpaper was a a bold, modern geometric pattern that had been a collaborative effort between Olivia and her husband, Mark. It was a vibrant tapestry of their shared taste, a symbol of their partnership. So when Mark’s sister, a woman named Chloe, and her two children came to visit, she felt a quiet pride.
The children, a boy and a girl, were well-behaved, but Chloe was the problem. She was a woman who had a history of being passive-aggressive, and she had a history of making subtle, snide comments about Olivia’s new home. So when Olivia found a large, crude drawing of a stick figure on the wall, she was immediately suspicious.
She confronted Chloe, who immediately blamed the children. “Oh, children will be children,” she said with a shrug. “They’re just being kids.” She then handed Olivia a small amount of money, a sum that was so small it was a blatant insult.
But the truth was far more infuriating. The next day, when she went to a professional to assess the damage, she found a half-empty bottle of markers on the floor. It was a special brand of markers that was designed to be easily wiped off of walls, but as she tried to wipe it, she found that it didn’t come off. The professional told her that Chloe’s children had likely used a different, permanent marker, one that was designed to be impossible to remove.
The revenge was a quiet, insidious one. Olivia, a woman who rarely spoke her mind, had a secret. She was a master artist, and she had a history of creating beautiful, intricate murals. She had been asked to create a mural for Chloe’s upcoming art show, a mural that was to be the centerpiece of the event. Olivia, with a grim determination, agreed to create the mural.
The mural was a masterpiece. A beautiful, three-dimensional creation, it was decorated with intricate swirls of paint and colorful sugar flowers. But the day of the art show, as Chloe was cutting into the mural, she discovered the truth. Olivia had not used ordinary paint. She had used a special kind of paint that was designed to be easily wiped off of walls, but as she tried to wipe it, she found that it didn’t come off. The mural was a disaster, a public humiliation for Chloe. The revenge was not about money, but about a quiet, public humiliation that left Chloe with nothing to say.
