Chapter 2
Linda White, probably worried I wouldn’t agree to the divorce, smiled gently.
“James and I have been together for two or three years now,” she said. “Though we didn’t mean to interfere with your marriage, love is innocent. Forcing you to stay with James wouldn’t make anyone happy.”
My mind was in turmoil, but strangely. I didn’t feel very sad. After all, I’d been married to James for ten years. He was no longer the handsome young man I had fallen in love with. No one could look at a fat, greasy man with a beer belly and say they loved him. So, if I were to be honest, I had never loved James. I had just considered him family.
Yuri gave Linda an approving glance.
Landa, you’re so kind,” she said. “We’ve put up with her for ten years. She’s a useless woman who cannot even bear children. Haven’t we done enough? Do we really have to keep her around and let her ruin our family’s future?”
At those words, I couldn’t help but glance at James. We had been unable to conceive for ten years, but the problem wasn’t with me. It was James’s severely low sperm count.
James, thinking I might expose the truth, quickly spoke up.
“Vivian Spencer, stop struggling. Let’s get a divorce. If you don’t agree, I’ll have to go through the courts, and it’ll be ugly for everyone.”
I wasn’t sure why, but I found myself asking.
“Why? Why didn’t you to
you tell me this earlier? Why wait until now?”
James froze for a moment, then began to explain.
“If you sign this divorce agreement, I’ll tell you why.”
I picked up the divorce papers from the table and skimmed through them quickly.
To my surprise, the terms were heavily in my favor: the house was my premarital property, so it was mine. The car and the savings were mostly given to rue as well. James was essentially leaving with nothing
Seeing I hadn’t signed yet. James impatiently urged.
“Hurry up and sign. If you don’t agree, I might just lose my wife!”
I had never wanted to care for James while he battled cancer, and with his words, the last bit of responsibility I had evaporated. I didn’t hesitate and signed the papers.
