When I didn’t respond, Lucas kept on accusing me. “Eve only posted that to celebrate because her kid’s school situation is settled. What’s the big deal?”
“But you? You had to go and stir things up in the comments, even made her cry. I haven’t even gotten onto you about that yet.”
“Listen, Jane, don’t push me too far,” Lucas said, hands on his hips, ranting like a jilted lover.
Having just gone through a medical abortion, with an infected foot and no sleep the night before, my body felt utterly drained.
I honestly didn’t have the energy nor the desire to argue with him.
“You’ve misunderstood,” I said quietly. “I’m not upset about the divorce.”
Lucas interrupted me with visible impatience, “Misunderstood?!”
“Eve’s right,” he snapped, “you’re exactly like that.”
“You get upset over the smallest things, always sulking or getting jealous. You have no emotional maturity whatsoever.”
"Whenever I'm late coming home because of work, you immediately contact my secretary to get my schedule and call me non-stop," he continued. "Please, I’m busy every day, okay?"
Ha, Lucas really knew how to manipulate.
If this had happened before, I would’ve fought with him tooth and nail, trying to prove that everything I did was out of love for him.
Lucas wasn’t stupid. He knew I loved him.
The problem was, he didn’t love me anymore. My love for him had become nothing but a burden in his eyes.
After he finished venting, I calmly said, "Are you done? If there’s nothing else, could you close the door on your way out?"
My words caught him off guard. His face flushed red with anger and he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
But a moment later, I heard him slam the door again from the living room.
Every time we argued, Lucas would pack up and leave for a few days to seek comfort from Evelyn, always claiming it was to "let me cool down."
Looking back, it was just a classic move from a scumbag—starting a fight to create an excuse for an affair.
During the days Lucas was gone, I was doing just fine on my own. I hadn’t slept this soundly in ages.
Once my body had healed enough, I reached out to my best friend, who worked at a top law firm and consulted her about divorce and asset division. After all, there were still 30 days left in the cooling-off period. There was plenty of time.
While Lucas had been away, Evelyn’s social media hadn’t slowed down one bit. It was as if she couldn’t wait for every little thing Lucas did to be documented, even if he just farted.
Today’s post was a photo of Lucas and some of his buddies enjoying a day out on the water.
In the center of the photo was Evelyn, wearing a bikini and snuggled up to Lucas. Her curves were pressed tightly against his arm and they were both smiling, looking sweeter than ever.
I accidentally hit the like button on the post. After thinking it over for a moment, I decided not to undo it. After all, if I did, it would just send a notification anyway.
To my surprise, not long after, I got a call from Lucas. “I’m going to pick you up later to take you to the beach and introduce you to some of my friends.”
He added, “I wasn’t planning on taking you, but since you’ve been behaving lately, I guess it’s a reward.”
Even though the process for our fake divorce was already underway, I didn’t want to raise any suspicion by letting him know I really had no intention of reconciling.
I softly agreed, “Okay, sounds good.”
Lucas arrived right on time to pick me up and surprisingly, Evelyn wasn’t around.
When we reached the beach, Lucas’s friends greeted me warmly and I immediately spotted Shane.
Shane Tomson was Lucas’s childhood friend and, more often than not, his scapegoat. Whenever Lucas stayed out all night, Shane was always there, covering for him.
He walked up to me with a smile and said, “Jane, the dinner with Eve and Luke was actually my idea.”
“Should’ve given you a heads-up. My bad. I’ll take responsibility,” Shane added, lifting his glass and downing it in one go.
I couldn’t exactly start a scene after he said that, especially since he was being so friendly.
I awkwardly smiled and said, “I understand. Company matters can be hectic and sometimes things slip through the cracks.” Then, I raised my glass to clink with Shane’s.
Shane kept the conversation going with more polite talk, “I heard you’re planning to expand your business to Hillscapes—congratulations!”
I gave a faint smile. “It’s just an early plan, nothing set in stone yet. The timing isn’t right.”
Just then, Lucas suddenly appeared behind me, his gaze sharp and confused as he stared at me. “You’re going to Hillscapes? You never said anything about it. Did you even bother asking for my opinion?”
