My husband asked for a divorce, unaware that i had quietly built a $450,000 income. (3 of 6)
Then I got sick. The autoimmune diagnosis came three years into my secret investigation of their affair. I expected Thomas to step up. Instead, his hospital visits became brief, obligatory. “How are you feeling today?” he’d ask, standing near the door, ready to bolt.
Meanwhile, Harper visited me every day after school, spreading her homework across my hospital tray. “Why doesn’t Thomas come see you more?” she asked one afternoon.
“He’s very busy with work,” I replied, the lie tasting bitter.
Anthony had quietly stepped into the void, handling my medical paperwork and driving me to appointments. The contrast between the two men was stark.
But something shifted after Harper’s fifteenth birthday. The daily visits stopped. I called Thomas. “Where’s Harper been?”
“She’s fifteen now, Rachel,” he said, almost irritated. “She has her own life.”
When I mentioned it to Anthony, his expression darkened. “Thomas has been talking to Harper,” he said quietly, “telling her things about you that aren’t true. That you’re bitter and jealous, that your illness was exaggerated for attention.”
The systematic poisoning of Harper against me was perhaps the cruelest thing Thomas had done. The teenager who had been my anchor now treated me like a stranger. He had successfully isolated me, believing I was too weak to fight back. He underestimated the strength forged in betrayal.
Two years later, Thomas walked into my hospital room during a follow-up appointment. This wasn’t the sheepish, guilty Thomas I knew. This Thomas walked with a swagger. And he wasn’t alone. Danielle clung to his arm, wearing a triumphant smile.
He approached my bed and dropped a business card on my table. “My lawyer’s contact information,” he announced. “We’re getting divorced.” The audacity of serving divorce papers to your hospitalized wife was breathtaking.
“You don’t work,” he continued, each word chosen for maximum impact, “so you’ll pay me alimony. A thousand a month seems fair. I’m done being tied to a lazy, worthless woman.”
