The divorced wife

chapter 1

Chapter 1: I Want a Divorce

Amelia POV

The night my husband asked for a divorce wasn't the day my marriage ended, it was simply the day we finally admitted it was already dead.

I used to eat dinner alone almost every night. Chris had his own schedule, his own life really, and somewhere along the way I stopped expecting him to be there. He forgot our second anniversary completely. I remember because I'd bought a cake that morning like an i***t, thinking maybe this year would be different, and it sat in the fridge for four days before I threw it out.

Some nights I'd lie awake listening for his car in the driveway. Half the time he never came home at all.

You'd think three years of that would've taught me something faster than it did. But I kept telling myself it was fine. That this was just how marriages like ours worked.

I was in the sitting room that night going through some files from the office, mostly just to keep my hands busy, when Mrs. Wilson came in.

"Mrs. Kingston, Mr. Kingston wants to see you in his study."

I looked up. He wanted to see me? He almost never did that unless it was about work. I closed the folder and told her thank you, and I remember thinking, walking up those stairs, that something felt off. I couldn't tell you why. The house was just quiet in a way it usually wasn't.

I knocked on his study door.

"Come in."

His voice sounded normal. Maybe too normal.

He was standing by the window with his back to me when I walked in, hands in his pockets, staring out at nothing in particular. I asked if he wanted to talk to me and he turned around, told me to close the door and sit down.

I sat. Neither of us said anything for what felt like a full minute.

Then he said, "I've been thinking about this for a while."

And I knew. I don't know how, but I knew what was coming before he said it.

"I think it's time we ended this."

I didn't say anything.

"I want a divorce."

“ I stared at him”

“He continued before I could answer ”

Victoria and I have waited long I don't want to waste any more years pretending

For a second I just sat there. Part of me kept waiting for him to laugh, tell me he was joking, but he didn't. He just stood there looking at me like he'd been rehearsing this for weeks.

"I'm sorry," he said. "This marriage shouldn't have happened in the first place."

I looked down at my hands so he wouldn't see my eyes. I wasn't going to cry in front of him. Not after everything.

"This only happened because of my grandfather," he said. "He's gone now. There's no reason to keep pretending."

Pretending. That word sat in my chest like a rock. Three years, and that's what it was to him. Pretending.

"So you've decided," I said.

"Yes."

"And there's nothing that would change your mind."

"No."

He said it so fast. Not even a second of thinking about it. That's the part that actually got me, if I'm being honest. Not the divorce itself. Just how easy it was for him.

I made myself smile a little. "I understand."

He looked almost surprised. "I thought you'd argue."

"When have I ever argued with you?"

He didn't answer that one, because we both knew. I never said anything the time he missed our anniversary. Or the mornings he came home smelling like someone else's perfume and I just made coffee like nothing happened. Or the day I found a scarf that wasn't mine in his car and put it back exactly where I found it. I told myself I was being patient. Really I think I was just scared of what would happen if I said something.

He walked over to his desk, like he needed something between us.

"I already talked to my lawyer. The papers are getting drawn up. If it goes smoothly this won't take long."

He talked about it the same way he'd talk about a merger. Like it was just paperwork.

"There's something else," he said.

I looked at him.

"Once it's finalized, I'm going to marry Victoria."

I already knew about Victoria. Everybody did. His family knew, the staff knew, I'm pretty sure half the city knew. But hearing him actually say her name out loud, in that room, with that calm voice, still knocked the wind out of me a little.

"I hope she makes you happy," I said.

He frowned. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I took three years from you."

"No you didn't. I stayed. That was my choice."

He looked at me like he didn't recognize me. "You don't hate me?"

I almost laughed. Hate him? No. That was actually the problem. I loved him way longer than I should have.

"I don't hate you, Chris. I just got tired."

Something crossed his face for a second, I think it was guilt, but it was gone before I could be sure.

"I never meant to hurt you," he said.

"I know."

"I'm grateful you're not making this hard."

"You were finally honest with me," I said. "That's more than I got most nights of our marriage."

I stood up and smoothed my dress down, mostly just to have something to do with my hands.

"If your heart was always somewhere else, nothing I did was ever going to change that."

He didn't say anything. I think he didn't know what to do with a wife who wasn't crying or yelling at him.

"I'll sign whatever you need," I told him. "You don't have to fight me on it."

His shoulders dropped a little when I said that. Like relief. That's the part I keep thinking about, actually. Three years of marriage and the only real feeling I ever gave that man was relief.

I turned to leave.

"Amelia."

I stopped with my hand on the door.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

I walked out and didn't look back. I wasn't going to let him see that.

I made it to our bedroom, locked the door, and that's when everything I'd been holding together downstairs just came apart. I ended up on the floor next to the bed with my hand over my mouth so nobody would hear me.

That's it. Three years and it ends with two signatures on some paperwork.

I don't know how long I sat there before I finally got up and wiped my face. I told myself enough was enough, I wasn't going to cry over a man who never really chose me in the first place.

I got the suitcase out of the closet and started packing. If he wanted out, I wasn't going to make it complicated for him.

I was folding a dress when this dizziness hit me out of nowhere. I had to stop and put my hand on my head for a second. I figured I was just worn out, hadn't been sleeping much, hadn't really been eating either the last couple weeks.

I reached for another dress and the room actually tilted a little. I grabbed the dresser to steady myself. Got this cold feeling all through my body.

"What..."

I waited it out and it passed after a few seconds. I laughed at myself a little, said out loud, "I really just need some sleep."

I had no idea, standing there with a half-packed suitcase, that being tired had nothing to do with it. And I definitely had no idea how much my whole life was about to change.