After His Birthday Snub, I Chose Divorce

Chapter 3

After that whole mess, Jeremy and I didn't say a single word to each other for almost a whole month.

Eventually, it was his mom who picked up on how off things were between us. She set up a family dinner, using my birthday as the perfect excuse.

Jeremy hadn't shown up yet, so my mother-in-law sat with me in the living room, trying to smooth things over.

"Alyssa, you and Jeremy have been through thick and thin together, side by side," she started. "I know he's neglected you these past few years, focused entirely on building his business, and that hurts you. But let me tell you something... that boy has always been so stubborn since he was little.

"He doesn't know how to sweet-talk his way out of anything, and he'd rather choke on his own words than be the first to clear up a misunderstanding. But that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you, deep down."

Jeremy's mom was one of the rarest kinds of mother-in-law on the planet. She drew crystal-clear lines between her life and ours, and never crossed them.

In all the years we'd been married, she'd never once demanded anything of me.

She always said that a marriage was for the two people in it, and no one else had any business butting in with their two cents.

And she actually walked the walk, too. She never meddled, not once.

So the fact that she was here playing peacemaker now? He must have begged her to step in.

The worry on her face was totally genuine, so after I thought it over for a minute, I decided to lay all my cards on the table.

"But Mom, you have to know, I got married because I wanted a real home. I wanted us to eat the terrible meals we cook together, read goofy, useless books together, wander around aimlessly on weekends with nowhere to go, and just live every ordinary, unremarkable day together," I said.

"But look at us now. I eat alone. I get sick alone. I even checked into the hospital alone. When I have good news I'm dying to share, or when I'm so upset I need a shoulder to cry on? He's never there. What's even the point of being married like this?" I continued.

I'd asked myself that exact question a thousand times. What was the point of any of this?

So many people around me kept telling me I should hold on to Jeremy for dear life. He was a total up-and-comer, they said. Once he hit it big, my social status would shoot right up along with his.

My future kids would have a way higher starting line in life than other people's kids, they'd add.

I asked them once, "So even if he cheats on me down the line, I'm just supposed to turn a blind eye and forgive him?"

They all went dead quiet.

After stammering and hemming and hawing for ages, she finally mumbled, "Marriage fades into family love in the end, you know?"

But they forgot one tiny little detail: I have a great career of my own. I don't need to latch onto him just to feel secure that I'll continue to have a good life for the next years to come.

At the very start, all I ever wanted was a simple home.

Now I know for a fact he can't give me that.

And I'm not about to lie to myself and parrot that garbage line about marriage turning into family love when my own husband's already fallen for someone else.

When love is gone, it's gone. Why hide behind 'family' as a lazy excuse?

His mom went quiet for a long moment, then patted my hand softly.

"Oh, honey, you've been through so much," she said.

Those words almost made me burst into tears. She was right. I'd been carrying all that hurt for no good reason this whole time.

How the hell had I let my life turn out like this?

The family dinner was supposed to start at 6:30, but it was pushed back indefinitely because Jeremy ran late.

By 8 o'clock, Jeremy's dad finally called it. "Let's not wait for him. Let's go ahead and eat."

The housekeeper heated up all the food again, and when she saw my sour face, she tried to smooth things over with a smile.

"Good things always take time, right?"

At 8:30, he finally showed up.

He sounded all guilty. "Sorry, I had a last-minute meeting pop up."

I let out a dry, mocking laugh. "See, Mom and Dad? Everything in the world comes before us, huh?"

Jeremy always had a million meetings. He never showed up to any family gathering on time, not even on my birthday.

He walked over holding a gift bag. "Baby, I'm so sorry I'm late. Happy birthday. Here, it just got in today. Those heels you've been obsessing over, remember?"

I'd told him how much I loved those shoes ages ago, but they were out of stock domestically. Every time he went on a business trip, I begged him to pick up a pair for me.

He never did, not once.

His parents were watching, so I had to take the gift box and force a half-hearted smile.

The box was wrapped perfectly, with a handwritten note stuck on top.

Dear Sabrina,

May you be happy every day.

I glanced at it, then lifted my head with a sharp, half-smirk.

"Who's Sabrina?" I shoved the card right back into his hand with a sharp flick of my wrist. "Give this to your Sabrina, won't you?"

With that, I turned on my heel and walked out of the living room.

From far behind me, I could hear his parents whispering at him, low and urgent. "Come on, son. You should know better by now. Work never seems to end with you, and you need to make time for Alyssa."

Jeremy's deep voice drifted over. "I know, once the company goes public, I'll—"

I didn't care enough to listen to the rest of his empty promise.

This villa was the one Jeremy bought for his parents after he struck it rich. I barely ever came over, so this was the first time I'd really gotten a good look at the backyard.

I sat down on the swing, staring at the rose bushes that covered the whole yard.

Just then, Sarah, a friend I hadn't talked to in forever, sent me a link.

It was an article from an entertainment website.

Along with the link came a snarky, passive-aggressive jab.

Sarah: Looks like someone didn't end up marrying that so-called true love after all.

I ignored what she said and tapped open the link instead.

Bright Tech's new drone line got Sabrina as their spokesperson. Y'all ever stop to think? Sabrina is actually Bright Tech CEO's wife! That post she put up earlier was a low-key soft official announcement of their relationship.

Attached to the post was a photo where right outside Bright Tech's office building, Sabrina was sitting in a car, wearing sunglasses and grinning at the man inside like she owned the whole world.

The top hot comment read:

A: [I ship it! I'll chip in 200 dollars for their wedding gift, put it under President Bright's tab!]

I exited the site.

When I turned around, Jeremy was standing right behind me. His face looked a little pale, but his eyes were so bright they were almost piercing.

"Aly, are you not even going to talk to me anymore? Can you give me ten minutes? Let me explain everything."

I tilted my chin up. "Sure. I'm all ears."

"I asked Sabrina to buy the shoes. She flew back to Boston today, so I had her pick them up. The salesclerk probably thought they were for her. That's why the card was addressed to her like that."

I let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Oh, really? Then how do you explain the size 40 shoes? Our great President Bright doesn't even know his own wife's shoe size?"

He looked like a kid who'd just made a mistake. "I'm sorry."

I stared at him for a long, heavy moment, then finally spoke, "Let's get a divorce."