Chapter 1
Right after I liked my husband Jeremy Lewis’s latest post on X, chatter erupted among my coworkers.
In that post, the same Jeremy who wouldn’t even do the dishes was out in a vineyard, wearing an expensive coat, diligently pruning grapevines.
And to top it off, he even added a proud caption.
“A real man handles business in the boardroom and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty at home.”
And to think, before he left this morning, he told me he had to rush to another state for a business meeting.
So this was the “business trip“-helping a female coworker back in her
hometown.
I stared at Jeremy’s smug face in the photo, feeling nothing at all.
After silently giving the post a like, I locked my phone.
I didn’t know what kind of storm was coming next, but I did know one thing for sure: Jeremy and I were done for good.
Not long after, he called. His voice was laced with fatigue from the manual labor and irritation.
“Rosie, she’s just a coworker. What’s with that passive–aggressive comment online?
“Lilian doesn’t come from much and needs my help. What’s wrong with that? A pampered rich girl like you could never understand how tough
)
life is for people like her.
“Delete the comment. Don’t embarrass us in front of our coworkers. You might not care, but I do!
“I promise I’ll go visit your parents with you next holiday.”
Next holiday–again.
I’d lost count of how many times he’d said that. I didn’t feel a thing
anymore.
Besides, there wouldn’t be a next holiday for us.
Once Thanksgiving passed, our divorce cooling–off period would be over.
I was just about to tell him not to bother when I heard a sudden yelp on the other end of the line like he’d tripped over something.
Then he quickly hung up.
Frowning, I set my phone down and went back to working on the project proposal.
After a while, my phone started blowing up with notifications, one after another, urgent and relentless.
When I finally checked, I saw Lilian Scott had tagged me in the work group chat.
She even screenshotted my like and called me out directly, her tone sharp. “Rosie, what’s that supposed to mean? If you look down on my rural background, just say it–don’t hide behind the sarcastic remarks!
“Mr. Lewis helped me prune grapevines because he doesn’t think he’s above it. You, on the other hand, just sit behind your keyboard, throwing insults. You are such a horrible person.”
The group chat exploded.
People I knew, and plenty I didn’t, started siding with Lilian, all eager to suck up to her.
What was even more absurd was that Jeremy jumped in himself and sent
a message.
“Rosie Sabien, apologize to Lilian immediately, or you’ll be suspended for two weeks!”
His bias toward Lilian was so obvious.
What chilled me even more was that none of my usually friendly colleagues spoke up for me.
It was as if they’d all agreed to turn on me.
Someone even accused me of “discriminating against rural folks,” saying I was petty and always picked on the new hires.
I sneered and didn’t bother to argue.
If this mess gave Jeremy an excuse to fire me, it would be exactly what I wanted.
After all, he had signed the divorce papers three months ago.
