“We’re not,” he sobbed, shaking his head into my stomach, his shoulders heaving with the force of his cries. He clung to me like a child afraid to let go of the last thing tethering him to the world. “Don’t say that, babe. Don’t tell me that.”
“It’s okay, James,” I murmured, my voice soft but resolute, my hands hanging limp at my sides, refusing to offer him comfort he no longer had the right to ask for. I stood perfectly still, as if any movement might make the moment collapse in on itself. “We can part amicably. We can still acknowledge each other, we can still be civil, maybe even friends someday. But I can’t be your wife anymore.”
“Why?” he cried, finally loosening his grip and letting go of me as he collapsed onto his heels. He stared up at me with watery eyes, his cheeks streaked w
