immediately sent another picture, this one of
Ethan shirtless, eyes closed, Juliet’s hand
covering his mouth. The implication was clear. I
saved it before she could retract it. Perfect.
This was the proof I needed. I printed three
copies of all the pictures, from both Juliet and
Susan. One for Ethan, one for the court, and
one for my mother. I filed for divorce, citing
infidelity, and demanded that he leave with
nothing. The court processed my petition
quickly. The day Ethan received the court
summons. he called me from Josh’s phone. “I
<
ugly. You want a divorce, fine.” “How do you
want to divide the assets?” “You can have the
house, the bank accounts. We can split the
company 50/50.” “I want 51% of the company.”
He sounded defeated, like all the fight had gone
out of him. He agreed to everything I asked for.
“Fine,” I said. “Consider it compensation for me
and Lily.” I hung up. A week later, the divorce
was finalized. The day after he transferred the
company shares, I sold 49% of them to Susan.
Now, she and Ethan had equal shares, creating
a stalemate. And I held the remaining 2%, the swing vote that could decide the company’s fate. Those 2% were my insurance policy. If
Ethan ever crossed me again, Susan would have
control. And he knew it. He never bothered me
again.
- 19.
Even after the divorce, Juliet continued to haunt me with her vitriol. “You’re so shameless, Mia! How could you take so much from him?” “He offered,” I replied simply. That infuriated her
even more “He only gave you that money out
<
yuilt
mis utau umu, tiul Nouause he cares
about you! It’s all your fault, using those
pictures to manipulate him!” I sent one final message. “We’re the victims here, not you.” I blocked her again, finally free from the toxic mess of my past. Peace, at last. Chloe came over to my new house one day and shared a
secret. “Ethan called me after the divorce.”
“What did he want?” Chloe thought for a
moment. “He said, ‘When I saw Mia after the
miscarriage, she looked like… a shell of a
person. Like she was about to die. I was
terrified. I’m not going to contact her again.
Please, take care of her for me.’” Chloe had
told him off. “You’re disgusting! ‘Late–onset‘
affection is worse than useless! Stay away from
us both!” I chuckled dryly. It seemed the old
adage was true: you always want what you
can’t have. One day, I ran into Josh. He said,
“Juliet never married Ethan. She’s too much
drama. Every time he didn’t give her what she
wanted, she’d threaten to hurt herself. He was
scared of her.” I didn’t care to hear the rest.
“That’s none of my business,” I said coldly.
<
9:50
other. I was finally happy on my own.
63
Epilogue:
I hadn’t been back to my mom’s since our fight.
But the divorce was a big deal. I needed to tell
her. I went over on Sunday. She wasn’t home. I
asked a neighbor, “Do you know where my mom
is?” She pointed down the street. “Check the
market. She’s probably selling oranges.” I
frowned. Why would my mom be selling.
oranges in the freezing cold? I hurried down the
street and turned the corner. There she was,
arguing with a burly guy. “Young man, you ate
two! You have to buy them!” “So what? I don’t
want to buy them. Stop trying to guilt–trip me,
lady. This is practically extortion!” My mom
tugged on his jacket. “How dare you bully an
old woman!” He was about to shove her when I
ran over and stepped between them. “Take it
up with me,” I said, glaring at him. “Leave my
mother alone.” He mumbled a curse and walked
away. My mom was still fuming. “Kids these
days have no respect. Eating my oranges and
<
arguing with some random guy? You’re not
strong enough to be getting into fights! If I
hadn’t shown up, you’d probably be in the hospital by now.” My mom looked down, silently picking up the oranges that had spilled, dusting
them off, and putting them back in her basket. Looking at her chapped, red hands, my anger melted into sadness. “It’s freezing out here.
Why aren’t you at home? Why are you selling
oranges?” She mumbled, “I need to make
money.” “What for? Don’t I give you enough
money?” She looked up at me, her eyes filled
with worry. “You’re divorced now. You have no
one to rely on. I don’t know what the future
holds. I have to save money for you. I’ve been
on my own most of my life. I know how hard it
is.” Tears streamed down my face. My
stubborn, old–fashioned mother. She thought
divorce was a tragedy, a sign of failure. But
divorce wasn’t the opposite of marriage.
Marriage was about happiness. So was divorce.
The End –
