Chapter 2 Divorce
Ever since our wedding, Elizabeth had used her Buddhist practice as a reason to keep me out of her room at night. Even on the sixteenth of each month, the only time we were allowed to be intimate, once it was over, I was expected to change the sheets and leave.
But now, it hit me every rule and boundary she’d drawn had. always been aimed at me and me alone.
At that moment, pain swallowed me whole. My hands and feet went numb, and the feeling quickly spread until I couldn’t feel anything at all–except my heart like it had been stabbed a thousand times over.
Elizabeth still didn’t bother to explain. Instead, she turned cold and snapped, “Who told you to come in without knocking? What happened to basic respect? Get out of here!”
I pointed at myself, glanced at Callum, and couldn’t help but feel how ridiculous it all was.
My own wife lets a man stay the night, stands there in nothing but a towel while he dries her hair like it’s the most normal thing in the world… and I, her legal husband, need to knock just to come in?
Elizabeth, it’s clear you don’t just disregard me. You don’t care about our marriage either.
Chapter 2 Divorce
Swallowing my pride, I said, “Elizabeth, let’s get a divorce.” I had completely given up on her.
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We’d been married five years. No matter how cold or unreasonable Elizabeth’s requests had been, I’d always gone along with them. I’d gotten used to treating her gently, and this was the first time I’d ever spoken to her like that.
“Divorce? Just because of this?” Elizabeth repeated, stunned, her expression softening. She shook her head, instinctively resisting. “No. I don’t agree to a divorce.”
Her firm refusal caught me off guard. I’d assumed her thing with Callum was already a done deal and she was just waiting for me to back out. But the way she rejected it so flat–out, I couldn’t help but wonder if she still wanted to hold onto me.
Five years of sincere devotion made me want to give Elizabeth the benefit of the doubt. But her next words sent me crashing straight into hell.
“I’ve made a vow to stay focused on my faith right now. Getting divorced would go against that,” she said without blinking. “You can bring it up after it’s done.” Her words were stiff and sharp, and her face might as well have been carved from marble.
So it really was just me holding onto a fantasy. I let out a bitter laugh, the pain in my chest so sharp it made me sick to my stomach.
I finally understood that in Elizabeth’s eyes, I wasn’t even a
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husband. Hell, I barely qualified as a person. After five years of marriage, I didn’t even have the right to bring up divorce.
I, a living, breathing human being, would always come second to her rituals and rules.
Callum looked between us before saying, “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. Don’t let what’s going on with me and the kid be the reason you leave Mr. Thornton. I don’t want to ruin your marriage. If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have stayed. Gideon, get dressed. We shouldn’t be here.”
With a sigh of regret, he picked Gideon up and got ready to
leave.
I shut my eyes, done with this little performance of theirs.
Callum isn’t wrong. They really don’t belong here. This is my home–one I poured five years of compromise and effort into. And now he gets to just swoop in and take it over? Like hell.
But to my surprise, Elizabeth stepped in to stop Callum. “Gideon’s stuff is all unpacked already. There’s no reason for you to leave. Stay. This is between me and him anyway. It has nothing to do with you or the kid.”
Then, she turned to me with a scowl. “The one who should be leaving isn’t him, it’s you. Gideon is just a kid. Can’t you be the bigger man? Do you really have to back them into a corner like this?”
Every word out of Elizabeth’s mouth cut straight through me
Chapter 2 Divorce like a blade.
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So now I’m the one pushing them into a corner? What else am I supposed to do? Stand by clapping while you two get cozy under my roof?
I wanted to scream at Elizabeth, but the coldness on her face made it all feel pointless.
That’s enough. This marriage is already over. No sense dragging out something that stopped making sense a long time ago.
With that thought, I walked away in silence. I went back to my room and began packing.
Funny thing I’d been married five years, but never really bought anything for myself. Everything I had, every bit of effort, went into Elizabeth and this house. In the end, all I had to my name was a single small suitcase, packed and zipped within the hour.
There was nothing left of me in that room. Just like that, the five–year marriage came to an end.
Before leaving, I left behind a letter of farewell. Actually, there wasn’t much I wanted to say. I just told her to meet me at the courthouse next Monday.
But the moment I opened the door, I saw Elizabeth standing right outside. Her eyes immediately narrowed the second she saw me dragging a suitcase, “Where are you going?” she asked, frowning.
Chapter 2 Divorce
“I’m getting out of your way. We’re done,” I replied flatly.
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I stepped past Elizabeth, ready to leave, but she blocked my path and shoved me back inside. “Stop it, Julian. Gideon is still here. Are you seriously going to blow this up in front of him? When I told you to leave, I meant to go back to your room. Not pack up and disappear.”
The room was nearly empty, so the letter stood out right away. She spotted it instantly and walked over.
The second Elizabeth read what was written, she tore the letter up without hesitation. Her face twisted in rage as she glared at me. “Let me make myself clear again, Julian. I do not agree to a divorce. If you dare bring it up again, you know what’ll happen!”
I felt completely gutted. My chest tightened with frustration, and I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly as I retorted, “What? Are you gonna break one of your precious commandments?
“But when you were lying in Callum’s arms, wrapped in nothing but a towel, letting him dry your hair… when you decided to play mommy to his kid, did your Buddhist vows mean anything then? Did you even think about your Buddha?”
Before I could say more, Elizabeth’s expression darkened, and she slapped me hard. “Shut up!” she shouted. “You have no right to speak of the Buddha with such disrespect!”
I never thought she’d hit me. For a second, I just stood there, stunned. We’d been married five years, and even if there was no
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love between us, we’d always kept things civil. Never once had it gotten this ugly. But that one slap ended everything we still had between us.
“Elizabeth,” I said, voice low, “if you need a reason, then fine. Let’s just say I couldn’t stand your rules anymore. Let’s just end this without making things even uglier. We are husband and wife, after all. No need to turn it into a war.”
My resolve seemed to shake Elizabeth. Her icy expression wavered just a little. “I shouldn’t have slapped you,” she said. “I’m sorry. But you know how important this is to me. Why would you go out of your way to provoke me on something like this?”
I scoffed at her twisted logic. “If that’s what you believe I was doing, I’m not going to argue,” I replied, throwing her own. words back at her.
Elizabeth blinked, clearly irritated. “Why is it so hard for us to just have a little trust, Julian? I practice Buddhism. We don’t lie. I told you I wouldn’t betray this marriage, and I meant it. Why do you always have to fight me on everything?”
I kept my face expressionless as I said, “Just cutting my losses, that’s all.”
Elizabeth let out a shaky breath, exasperated, and yanked my suitcase from me. “Go wherever you want. But I still won’t agree to a divorce.” With that, she turned and walked away.
Only then did I realize how deeply I was hurting. I was shaking
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all over; my chest felt crushed under a weight I couldn’t lift. It was like someone had reached inside and gripped my heart with an iron fist, squeezing until I couldn’t breathe.
Does Elizabeth really think just because she took my suitcase, I’d have no choice but to stay? She’s wrong. It’s just some clothes and basic stuff anyway. I’d rather replace them than stay here another minute.
So, I left. But no sooner had I walked out than my phone rang- it was the station.
