My husband suddenly filed for divorce, saying that I was a useless wife, and left me for a younger mistress. He was sure I wouldn’t make it without him. I just smiled. Now he calls me 20 times a day.
My husband, James, of 15 years, handed me divorce papers yesterday, calling me a useless wife before telling me he was moving in with his mistress. He was so confident I’d fall apart without him. I’m still in shock, but I need to get this off my chest.
I should have seen it coming. Looking back, the signs were there, but you never want to believe the person you’ve built your whole life with could change so drastically. Or maybe they were always like that, and you just didn’t want to see it.
It started with small things. James got really into fitness about 8 months ago, started going to F45 every morning at 5 a.m., bought all new clothes from Lululemon, and was constantly checking his Apple Watch stats. I was happy for him. We’re not getting any younger, and health is important.
He even got me a Peloton for Christmas, though he made sure to remind me every week how much it cost and how I barely used it. Then came the late nights at work, the weird texts he’d quickly hide when I walked by, the new cologne from Sephora that he got as a free sample. He started making comments about how I should put more effort into my appearance, suggesting I try those viral skincare products from TikTok or get Botox like everyone else.
Mind you, I take care of myself just fine. I’m just not interested in dropping hundreds on La Mer creams or whatever’s trending on Instagram.
Yesterday, I was folding laundry when I found a receipt from Tiffany & Co. in his pocket. We’re not rich. We shop at Target and drive a 2018 Honda. A Tiffany receipt set off major alarm bells.
When I checked our joint account, I nearly had a heart attack. There were multiple withdrawals to an account I didn’t recognize, and our savings had been slowly draining over the past 6 months.
I waited until he got home, receipt in hand. Instead of the usual excuses or manipulation I expected, he just laughed. Actually laughed. Then he went to his home office, came back with an envelope, and tossed it on our coffee table.
“I was going to wait until the weekend, but since you’re being nosy, here you go,” he said, smirking like he’d just won something.
“My lawyer says it’s a generous offer, considering you’ve contributed basically nothing to this marriage.”