2
Just before dawn, I dropped Leo off at my
mom’s, then drove back to my home with
Jake, and quietly packed all my things.
Jake came home to find me sitting on the
couch.
Hearing the key turn the lock, I took a breath.
and calmly looked at him. “Jake, I want a
divorce.”
No compromises, no hysterics. Just another
regular morning, in a regular tone, asking for
a divorce.
“We’ll split everything we own equally. I don’t
<
want the house, and I’m taking custody of
Leo. The rest, I’ll write up in the divorce
papers.”
Jake froze at the door. When he finally
registered what I said, he laughed lightly, and
walked towards me.
“I wasn’t deliberately missing Leo’s birthday,
honey, work got crazy, don’t be like that,
okay?”
“My wife is so understanding, she’d never
hold it against me.”
He pushed my suitcase to the side. “You left
Leo with Mom? It’s been a while since we had
some us time, so be good, wait for me after
work, and we’ll get that sushi you wanted,
yeah?”
<
He went to the bedroom, changed, left the
house, and went to work. A perfectly
executed routine.
The divorce I spent hours agonizing over? To
him it was a girl’s tantrum, insignificant.
I stayed at home for three days, and Jake
didn’t call me once.
He was probably waiting for me to cool off
and come home on my own.
That evening, my mom knocked on my door.
I could see her struggle in her eyes. I cut her off before she could speak. “Mom, if you
want me to stay with Jake for Leo’s sake,
don’t bother. I’ve made up my mind, I can
raise Leo on my own.
<
I got married right after college. I didn’t rush
having kids, I instead got my law license.
I went on maternity leave when I was four
months pregnant.
When I was barely done with postpartum, my
boss was begging me to come back to work.
Jake, worried about my health, went to my
firm and quit for me.
I was at home, getting Leo to nap when I got
a message from my colleague.
She sent a bunch of star–eye emojis before
saying, “Sunny, your husband is so hot!”
I sent back a question mark.
My coworker was taken aback. “You don’t
<
“Know what?”
“Your husband just quit your job for you
today. He told your boss, ‘Can you stop
harassing my wife now?‘ You weren’t there,
but let me tell you, your boss who acts like
he’s a big deal got completely shut down.”
I stared at the phone for a few seconds, then
handed it to Jake who was done getting
changed and was sitting next to me.
He glanced at it, then wrapped his arms
around my waist and poked our son’s cheek,
“Am I in trouble? It was my fault, I’m just
worried that you’re too nice and you’d
actually go back to work like your boss
wants.”
“Listen, just take care of yourself. With my
<
wife’s skills, law firms are going to be fighting
for you later, and if they don’t…”
I grabbed his hand, “Stop poking him, it’s
your own son, why are you so heartless?
You’ll leave marks, what if he cries?”
“Heartless? It’s this little guy who’s making
his mom go through hell, if he cries I’ll throw
him out.”
The second those words were out, our son
began to wail.
Jake looked at me, lost.
I kicked him, “I’ll wrap you up first and throw
you out.”
That night, I asked him, “You didn’t say what
L
He pulled me into his arms, his breath warm
on my ear.
“Then your husband will start his own firm for
you.”
“What if we don’t get any clients?”
“From now on, I’ll send you all the legal
problems from my company. And anyone
working for me who needs to file for divorce
will have to come to you.”
I giggled, “Not the men, though. If the
woman’s ex still has a single pair of pants, I’ll
know my work hasn’t been good enough.”
Jake’s eyes darkened, and he squeezed my
waist, his voice husky. “Then I better treat
you right, in case my wife runs away, leaving
<
Back then, I really thought we’d be together
forever.
“Sunny?”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t come here to convince you to stay.”
