Divorce Freed Me, Condemned Him

Chapter 3

While the Smith family was still reeling in shock, I didn't waste a second.

I laid all my cards on the table. "The reason we're getting divorced is that your son, Liam, cheated on me with his female assistant while we were still married. He chose to leave this marriage with nothing on his own. I don't owe your family a single thing!"

All the color drained from Liam's face in an instant. He snapped his head toward me, voice tight with anger. "Emma!" He clearly never expected I'd air all this dirty laundry in front of his family without sparing him even an ounce of face.

The room went dead silent so fast you could've heard a pin drop.

Claire's hand shook as she stared at Liam, her voice wobbly. "Liam, is what she's saying true?"

Liam went quiet for a few beats, then nodded openly, answering plainly. "Diaia is such a sweet, lovely girl. I'll bring her home to meet you in a few days. You're definitely gonna love her once you get to know her."

He admitted it just like that, unapologetic as anything.

A bitter, self-deprecating smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. Of course. When Liam truly cared about a woman, he'd never let her suffer even the tiniest slight, not even for a second.

Back when we were dating, he'd been just as eager to introduce me to his family, just as desperate to rush to the altar with me.

Now he was treating Diaia the exact same way.

Who would've thought those words would make David Smith, who'd stayed quiet this whole time, blow a fuse?

"You dare bring that homewrecker into this house, and I will disown you! A young girl seducing a married man? What kind of decent person does that?"

Hearing the woman he loved get insulted like that, Liam's face darkened immediately. "Dad! Diaia and I are in love, both of us!"

Smack! David's only response was a sharp, full-force slap across his face.

"The Smith family has never had a single person remarry in our entire history! What the hell will everyone think of us? This is humiliating!"

David cared about nothing more than keeping up appearances. He didn't give a damn how miserable my marriage to Liam was. All he cared about was not looking like a joke to other people.

That slap knocked Liam completely senseless. He stood there frozen for a long while, not saying a word.

Then David turned his attention to me. "Emma, family shame stays within the family. This was Liam's fault, and we'll apologize to you on his behalf. Just let this go, alright? You have my word, we'll make him cut off all contact with that woman for good! You two haven't finished the divorce cooling-off period yet. Hurry up and cancel the divorce filing."

Once he was done talking, he shot Claire a sharp, meaningful look.

Claire hurried over right away, grabbing my hands in hers, all fake warmth. "Exactly, exactly! Emma, if you don't want to have kids right now, then we won't push you! Family issues get solved behind closed doors, right? Why on earth would you go so far as to get a divorce over this?"

Liam stood off to the side, clearly seething with displeasure, but he held his tongue to avoid disrespecting his parents.

He always pulled this move. Throughout our three-year marriage, I was the one stuck playing the "bad guy" who talked back to his elders.

Fine. This time, I'd play that "bad guy" for him one last time.

I pulled my hand out of Claire's grip. "Sorry, I'm not that generous. I can't stand being married to a man whose heart isn't with me."

My unyielding stance made Claire choke on her words, and immediately she switched to that overbearing elder act.

"Emma, Liam cheated while you two were married. Have you ever stopped to think maybe you're the problem here? You obviously didn't know how to keep your man's attention. Aren't you embarrassed that this got out?"

A sharp, stinging pain pricked my heart, like a dozen tiny needles at once.

But I kept my face calm, even letting a small, cold smile tug at my lips. "He's the one who cheated. Why would I be embarrassed?"

With that, I wrenched my hand completely free from her grasp, grabbed my bag, and turned to walk out of the Smith family's house.

I'd barely made it a few steps when I heard Liam's voice shouting behind me. "Emma! Stop right there!"

He rushed forward to yank me back, but his hand froze mid-air all of a sudden.

That was an early symptom of his ALS, I realized.

I stared at him quietly, no expression on my face. "What else do you want?"

Liam's brow furrowed for a split second, then smoothed back to normal like nothing had happened.

He bit out the question, sharp with anger. "You did this on purpose to ruin Diaia's reputation, didn't you? Now my parents won't accept her. Happy now?"

I stared at the man in front of me. For a second, I couldn't even remember why I'd ever liked him in the first place.

The man I remembered spoke to me in soft, gentle tones, like he was handling something fragile and precious.

This man was glaring daggers at me like I was his worst enemy.

We'd loved each other for years. I never thought we'd end up here.

My eyes finally burned red, and I couldn't stop the question from spilling out. "Liam, you knew this would happen when you decided to cheat, didn't you?"

Liam's face went stiff.

I didn't wait around to hear whatever excuse he'd come up with. I turned on my heel and walked away, fast.

The next day was my day off. I finished all the property transfer paperwork, moved into my new place, and invited a bunch of friends and coworkers over for a housewarming party.

The room was buzzing with laughter and chatter when everyone raised their glasses to me, cheering loudly. "Cheers to Emma's new place!"

I smiled and clinked my glass against theirs. "To my new life!"

*****

After that day, my life got a whole lot quieter. I blocked all the Smith family's contact info, only keeping Liam's phone number so I could reach him when it was time to go get our divorce certificate. I thought that was the last I'd have to deal with any of them.

Everything stayed quiet until the wee hours one week later, when I spotted Liam in the ambulance I was assigned to during my hospital shift.

He was curled up on the emergency stretcher, one hand clamped tight over his upper abdomen. Even under his crisp suit, his face was as pale as a sheet.

I frowned. One glance was all it took for me to know he was having a stomach flare-up.

Ever since he opened his own law firm, Liam had never kept a regular meal schedule.

Back when we were married, I'd always nagged him to eat on time. Whenever I had a spare minute, I'd even cook light, stomach-friendly meals myself and drop them off at his office.

Looks like without me there to remind him, he'd been treating his body like garbage, and it had finally given out on him.

I reached out to press on his stomach to examine him, but my hand was shoved away hard before I could even make contact.

It was Diaia, who'd come in the ambulance with him. When she saw I was the one on call to treat him, her face twisted into an annoyed scowl.

"Why is it you? Aren't there any other doctors on duty?"

Thwack. A sharp, stinging pain flared up on the back of my hand. Liam lay on the stretcher, still deathly pale, but he didn't say a single word to stop his little girlfriend.

A cold chill sank through my chest. I planted my feet at the ER entrance and stared right at the two of them.

"I'm the only one on duty in this department right now. So make your choice—do you want me to treat him, or not?"