Or worse, marks on his body that had no business being there.
I'd had enough of living like this, jealous and suspicious over every little thing.
"Fine. Sleep wherever you want, comfort her however you want. That's your call."
Then I hung up.
Cecil called right back.
I didn't feel like dealing with it, so I let it ring.
A voice message came through a second later.
【Doris! Are you out of your mind? If I actually slept here, wouldn't you show up with a machete and hack me and Lillian to pieces?】
【You love checking up on me, don't you? Come see for yourself whether Lillian and I are innocent. Hurry up and make that hangover soup and bring it over. Everyone's waiting to be inspected by the lady of my house!】
His tone dripped with mockery, backed by the whooping of his friends.
Every one of those "big sister" toasts—how many were even sincere? I couldn't bring myself to care anymore.
I went into the study, drew up a divorce agreement, signed it, and then dropped straight into bed.
I'd barely fallen asleep when the home security camera picked up Cecil shouting.
"Doris, where are you? If you don't come apologize, I really won't come home!"
I could tell he'd had plenty to drink—otherwise he wouldn't have let that thrill slip so plainly into his voice.
I unplugged the camera so I wouldn't have to listen to him carry on.
Cecil came back the next morning.
He walked in carrying breakfast from that trendy place on the south side, calling me awake like nothing had happened.
I didn't touch my favorite crab cakes. I just handed him the divorce agreement.
"If there's nothing wrong with it, sign."
His hand froze mid-pour, milk hovering over the glass, and then he gave a helpless little laugh.
"I knew you'd pull this. How many times have we gone through the divorce thing now? Doris, do you actually find this fun?"
He set down the milk and told me to transfer twenty thousand to Lillian.
I stared at him.
"On what grounds?"
"You cursed her until she cried, and then you cost me a bet. She covered my stake, so now you owe her. Pay her back."
That was when I learned he'd bet everyone that I'd definitely bring Lillian a hangover soup to apologize and then drive him home.
But from the way he couldn't quite tamp down the corners of his mouth, I was sure of one thing: he'd already smoothed things over with Lillian.
And he wasn't the least bit upset about losing the bet.
If anything, staying the night at Lillian's had put him in an especially good mood.
"I can give her the money. But you sign the divorce papers."
I said it calmly.
The curve at Cecil's mouth vanished.
Seeing how flat my expression was, how flat my voice was, something in him turned irritable for no reason he could name.
He tossed the crab cakes into the trash.
Then he used my couple's payment account to send Lillian twenty thousand, and deleted her from his contacts.
But he refused to sign the divorce agreement.
"Doris, as long as you stop making a scene, I promise I'll cut off all contact with Lillian!"
The next second, two messages landed on my phone.
One was anonymous:
【Doris, if you've got money to burn, go donate it! Your husband transferred a hundred thousand to Lillian last night just to make her happy, and here you are handing over more! You're beyond hope!】
Attached was an intimate photo of the two of them locked in a deep kiss.
The other was from Lillian:
【Doris! Could you be any more childish? You think having money makes you something? You think money can make Cecil delete me? Let me tell you—delete me ten thousand times and Cecil will be on his knees begging me to add him back every single time!】
Attached was a photo of the two of them in bed.
So she'd assumed I was the one deleting her every time.
I pulled my eyes off the messages. I didn't ask Cecil where he got the nerve to use my money to soothe his childhood sweetheart.
Instead, I forwarded the photos to my lawyer for advice.
【Can this be used as evidence of the husband's infidelity to reduce his share of the assets?】
【Yes, it can!】
With that confirmation, I tore up the divorce agreement and printed a new one.
