She Mocked Me, I Dumped My Husband

Chapter 4 Provocation on Social Media

Inside a nearby hotel suite, I sank into a long, warm bath. Layer by layer, the exhaustion and revulsion of the past day melted away.

With a moment of quiet to myself, I pulled out my phone and began scrolling through social media.

Right at the top of my timeline sat a new post from Sally.

Steaming clam chowder, golden vegetable omelets, and pan-seared herb shrimp filled the frame of her photo.

Her accompanying caption: [Sam's wife is always swamped with work and never has time to look after Sam's health. I guess the job falls to me instead.]

Samuel's circle of lifelong friends filled the comment section with lighthearted remarks, praising Sally for her thoughtfulness and teasing Samuel about his good fortune.

I tapped the like button calmly, then left a short comment of my own.

Alice: [If someone isn't in good shape to begin with, no fancy meal will change that.]

Barely sixty seconds later, the entire post vanished from the platform.

A faint smirk appeared on my face. I switched off the bedside lamp and settled down to sleep.

*****

The next morning, a phone call from the hotel front desk roused me from sleep. "Sorry to disturb you, ma'am. A man claims to be your husband and insists we hand over your room number. Could you please come down to the lobby to sort this out?"

Glancing at the clock, I saw it was only six twenty in the morning.

The untimely interruption ruined my peaceful sleep entirely.

Pulling the covers over my head, I paused for a moment before answering flatly. "I'm not coming down. I don't know the man you're talking about."

I ended the call and unplugged the room phone, ignoring any further attempts to reach me.

Sleep claimed me once more, and I did not wake fully until half past nine.

After freshening up and grabbing my handbag, I stepped out of the elevator.

Samuel rushed forward in an instant and pulled me into a tight embrace. "Honey, I'm so sorry! You embarrassed me in front of Sally yesterday. She's a notorious gossip—if word spreads that I let my wife call all the shots, I'll never live it down among our friends."

He held out a paper box filled with cinnamon rolls, my favorite sweet treat.

"I left home long before dawn just to come apologize. I picked these up especially for you. Stop holding it against me and come back home. The apartment feels so empty without you. Living there alone with her just doesn't feel right."

The cinnamon rolls had turned cold.

Their warm, sweet aroma was long gone, with congealed butter and sugar frosting coating the pastries in an unappetizing greasy film.

Before I could reply to him, another figure darted over.

Sally slapped Samuel playfully on the backside. "Samuel! How could you leave me stuck at home all alone? I only tracked you down because our phones share location tracking."