They Laughed at My Cheating Rumor, I Divorced Him

The most famous fortune-teller in Chicago divined that I was cheating on my husband, Ethan Fairfax. Everyone, including Ethan himself, thought the claim was ridiculous and couldn't stop laughing. The whole city saw me as a long-suffering doormat of a Fairfax wife who's swallowed every insult for years. If I could ever cheat, pigs could fly. But that very same night, Ethan Fairfax bought out the entire Walt Disney World Resort for Vanessa Hart and our son, Andrew Fairfax. Their cozy happy family photo had already blown up to the top spot in trending searches. While that played out, I calmly tore my pajamas to shreds, rumpled the sheets, and knocked an open box of condoms all over the bedroom floor. The second Ethan Fairfax stepped through the front door, I unflinchingly slipped my wedding ring off my finger and said, "Ethan, I cheated on you. I'm done being your virtuous, dutiful Mrs. Fairfax." "What the hell did you just say?" Ethan scanned the room, and every surface his gaze landed on screamed of the messy, illicit scene I'd staged. Next second, crash! He slammed our wedding photo from the bedside table and smashed it to pieces. His face turned dark as a thunderstorm. "Are you f*****g doing this to get back at me?" he snarled. "Do you have any idea how bad this would be if our son walked in on this?!" I glanced past him at the empty hallway. Of course. Andrew was staying over at Vanessa Hart's place again. He was only seven years old, but just yesterday he'd blocked me from stepping into our own bedroom. "Dad and Stepmom are playing a game," he'd said. "You can't come in." I'd heard gasps and moans spilling out from under the door, and I'd automatically reached to cover his little ears. But he'd shoved my hand away and spat, "Mom, you really are a slut." I froze solid right where I stood, I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. My own son, the baby I carried for nine long months and pushed through agonizing labor to bring into this world, had just called me a slut. Just thinking about it now made my whole body shake uncontrollably. Suddenly, with a completely blank expression, Ethan slammed me down onto the bed. He blasted me with disinfectant spray over and over, then scrubbed my skin so hard it turned bright red. "Selena," he growled. "This happens once, and once only!" The fumes made me cough so hard my chest hurt, my entire throat burned like fire. "Get off me!" I instinctively shielded myself with my diamond engagement ring, and the sharp edge sliced a deep, bleeding gash right into his temple. Ethan didn't even flinch. His eyes burned blood-red as he stared at the love bite darkening my collarbone. "Looks like you really can't change your dirty little nature," he spat. "You'd rather spread your legs for any random man than bow down to me. You're not even worth one strand of Vanessa's hair!" My silence stretched on long enough that Ethan's heaving chest finally started to calm down. He fixed his gaze on the wedding ring I'd set down, and was just about to speak when the doorbell rang out ding-dong. Vanessa stood at the door in a crisp business suit, my son's small hand clamped tight in hers. He darted a guilty look at me when our eyes met. After all, the Fairfax family had an unwritten rule: when I was home, no other woman was allowed to step through the door. Vanessa had always been the only exception. She took in the messy chaos covering the floor, and sighed in a long-suffering tone. "Mrs. Fairfax, the entire company's going crazy because of that trending post from earlier. I know I shouldn't stick my nose into your marital business, but at least think of Mr. Fairfax and Andrew. Even if you don't care about them, I do. Don't you think I'm right?" I clenched my fists tight in my palms. Once, years ago, I'd found another woman's hair on our bed. I'd gone completely crazy hunting for the owner, turned the whole city into a mess with my scandal. But by the time I tracked her down, Ethan had already moved on to a new mistress anyway. I wasn't going to be that stupid ever again. I was done with all the screaming and fighting. I kept my fists clenched, and answered calmly, "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you two." Ethan shot me a stunned, wide-eyed look, then cleared his throat roughly. "Vanessa's put in so much hard work for the company, and she's been taking care of our kid for you on top of that. You should step down and give her the director position." He knew damn well I'd poured my whole life into this career, climbing up to where I am today through sheer grit. But even so, he just hand-waved my position away and handed it to Vanessa like it was worthless trash. I guess my face looked twisted enough that Vanessa couldn't keep up her innocent act. She covered her face and fled the room in a flash. "Vanessa!" Ethan stared daggers at her retreating back, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth creaked. "It's settled. I'll process your resignation paperwork tomorrow." I lowered my eyes, forcing my voice to sound casual as I said, "Suit yourself." Andrew was pacing circles in a panic, and he bumped into the boiling kettle by accident. Scalding hot water poured straight down my arm. I shrieked from the searing pain. He darted off immediately, and I stupidly thought he was running to grab me a first-aid kit. Nope, he pulled up a video call instead. "Stepmom, the bad mom bullied you, and now she's getting what she deserves!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I hunched over, cackling a bitter, broken laugh. Then I turned, pulled out the divorce papers I'd prepared ahead of time, and jabbed my finger at the blank signature box at the bottom of the last page. "Sign it. I won't stand in the way of you two building your new family."