My Husband Left Me After 39 Years of Marriage – After Three Weeks, His New Wife Told Me Something That Made My Knees Go Weak
“How long has this been going on?”
“Long enough.”
“Your coworker?”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting, Greta.”
The front door opened.
“Mom? Dad?” Hanna, my daughter, called. “We brought groceries.”
She entered carrying two paper bags. Steven, my son, followed with bottled water.
They stopped when they saw the pills scattered near my feet.
“That isn’t an answer.”
“What happened?” Hanna asked.
Robert sat down and let his shoulders sag.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Robert,” I warned.
He looked at our children.
“Your mother can’t handle what’s coming.”
“What happened?”
Steven set down the water.
“What does that mean?”
“It means she wants a divorce.”
Hanna’s grocery bag slipped. An apple rolled across the floor and stopped beside the pill in my hand.
“That’s a lie!”
Robert rubbed his forehead.
“She said our marriage has been over for years.”
“What does that mean?”
“Stop talking, Robert!”
Hanna stared at me.
“Mom?”
“Your father just told me he wants to leave me for Claire.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“Please don’t make this harder, Greta.”
“Stop talking, Robert!”
“Harder?” I stepped toward him. “You told me you loved another woman, and now you’re making me explain your lie.”
Hanna moved beside him.
“Dad just told us it’s stage four. And now you want to leave?”
“I don’t want to leave. Your father does.”
Steven looked at Robert.
“Dad, did you ask Mom for the divorce?”
“I don’t want to leave.”
Robert said nothing.
That silence should’ve saved me.
Instead, Hanna reached for his hand. Nothing I said would make her believe me.
“How could you leave him now?” Hanna asked.
“I’m trying to stay!”
Robert looked away. “Just let her go.”
Robert said nothing.
***
Three weeks later, I signed the divorce papers.
Robert gave me the house, most of our savings, and part of his business money.
The adviser reviewing the papers called the terms unusually generous.
Robert sat across from me in a gray suit and the blue tie.
“Why are you giving me almost everything?” I asked.
“I won’t need the house.”
I signed the divorce papers.
“That’s not a reason.”
“Sign the papers, Greta.”
“A guilty man can still be generous.”
Men’sClothing
His mouth tightened.
“I’m not doing this out of guilt.”
“Then why are you wearing my tie?”
He glanced down.
