He Took Me For Granted, I Divorced Him

Chapter 3

The next afternoon, while I was handing off my responsibilities at work, a call came through from Hector.

"Betty said you snapped at her in front of her classmates yesterday and cut off her credit card?

"When did you become so petty and narrow-minded? She is my sister! What's the big deal if she spends a little bit of your money? Has my family ever treated you poorly?!

"You had better go apologize to Betty right now and transfer her fifty thousand dollars in spending money, or else I will divorce you!"

I rolled my eyes and let out a cold sneer, "Hector, she is your sister, not mine. Why should my money endlessly support an outsider who calls me an old woman behind my back?

"As it happens, what day are you coming back? I have something to tell you."

There was a momentary pause on the other end of the line, as if he hadn't anticipated such a firm, uncompromising tone from me.

Soon enough, he slipped back into his usual impatient demeanor, attempting to belittle me in his customary way. "Aren't you just trying to nag me again about renovating that worthless house?

"I genuinely don't get it. Living together with my family means everyone can look out for each other. Why do you insist on wasting that money? Is it burning a hole in your pocket?

"Let me make one thing clear: go apologize to my sister first, or we have nothing further to talk about!"

With that, he hung up immediately, giving me no chance to utter another word.

Listening to the repetitive busy tone, I sank into a long silence, feeling a heavy, suffocating tightness in my chest.

He had completely forgotten how, when he proposed, he looked into my eyes with utter sincerity and promised, "Selene, after we get married, we will buy a house that belongs truly to us. You can design it however you like, and I'll give you a perfect home."

Later, we did buy a house together, but the renovation work was postponed time after time.

During the first year, he claimed he was far too busy with work to supervise the contractors, asking me to wait a little longer.

During the second year, he insisted our cash flow was tight, asking me to put off the renovation funds until our financial situation eased up down the road.

I believed him every single time.

Yet now, that promised home would never exist, and as for us, there was no future left to share.

In the days that followed, I threw myself into drawing a clear, uncompromising boundary between Hector's life and mine.

I didn't reach out to Hector, and naturally, he made no attempt to contact me either.

It was only on the eve of our appointment to process the divorce paperwork, as dusk was falling, that he finally sent a message.

Hector: Had too much to drink at the celebration dinner. Come pick me up.

Only then did I realize he had already returned from his business trip.

My initial instinct was to ignore it completely, but keeping tomorrow's final task in mind, I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door.

The moment I pulled up near the entrance of the restaurant, I spotted Hector standing by the curb right away.

He looked thoroughly intoxicated, his arm resting naturally over Kylie's shoulder as he leaned his weight comfortably against her.

Meanwhile, several male colleagues standing alongside them, waiting for rides, were completely sober, standing straight as arrows.

Spotting my car, Hector draped his arm around Kylie as he pulled open the rear door, and both of them climbed into the backseat together.

Hector rubbed his temples heavily. "Drive her home first. My head is spinning terribly, so I'm going to lean back here and rest for a bit."

I let out a cold laugh in my mind.

He had certainly devised a seamless pretext, allowing him to sit shamelessly in my car, resting head-to-head with his precious Kylie.

Through the rearview mirror, Kylie's eyes locked with mine for a brief, flickering moment.

Devoid of any embarrassment, she offered me a graceful, poised smile instead. "Please don't misunderstand, Selene. Hector really had a lot to drink tonight, so he must be feeling genuinely unwell. Thanks for driving us."

I smiled back calmly. "It's no trouble at all. Though honestly, next time you come across a drunk man like this, it's best not to bother caring for him.

"After all, hailing a cab doesn't cost much, which is certainly better than standing out in the freezing cold waiting alongside him, don't you think?"

The smile on Kylie's face instantly froze on her lips.