"Who would've thought—young as you are, you've already made something of yourself!"
"Not like some people, scraping by as a traffic cop. No ambition whatsoever. How's a man like that supposed to provide for a family?"
"Mom, don't talk about Clarence like that."
Whenever Carmen heard someone putting me down in public, she'd always step in to defend me.
"People have different aspirations. What's wrong with being a traffic cop?"
"If he hadn't saved my life on that highway, I'd be dead right now."
My mother-in-law was gearing up to say more, but Kerry stepped in to play peacemaker.
"Ma'am, I can't believe how young and gorgeous you look—there's no way you've had kids. You could pass for Carmen's older sister, easy."
That was all it took. My mother-in-law lit up like a Christmas tree, piling food onto his plate, toasting him glass after glass, and nudging Carmen closer to him every chance she got.
There was a time this would have gutted me.
Not anymore. I didn't care.
After dinner, my brother-in-law grabbed my arm and insisted we go for a walk. He'd always been the type to take shots at me, so this sudden friendliness wasn't what it seemed.
I ducked into a nearby restroom. When I came back and was about to call out to him, I heard his voice on the phone: "Sis, just relax and have your fun with Kerry!"
"You're hooked on his wild side, and Mom? Heh—she's been dying to kick that loser to the curb!"
The smile drained from my face. I turned on my heel and headed straight back.
Outside the bedroom door, I heard Carmen and Kerry inside. My mother-in-law had conveniently stepped out, leaving them their space.
I staggered backward. I pulled off my wedding ring—the one-of-a-kind band I'd never once taken off—and dropped it on the floor.
Then I left.
Carmen didn't call. Not once. She was too lost in her own world to notice I was gone.
The whole family had been in on it. Every single one of them, conspiring to make a fool of me.
I couldn't swallow it.
I called my father on the spot and told him to cut off all support for my brother-in-law. Without someone propping him up, that deadbeat couldn't survive a week on his own.
Dawn came. Carmen still hadn't called.
Today was the day we'd part for good. I signed the divorce papers and left them on the bed.
I'd barely stepped out the front door when Carmen came rushing back, breathless.
"Honey! Why'd you come home without telling me?"
"Did my mom say something again? Don't take it to heart. We just need to focus on living our own life."
She walked up as she spoke, wrapping her arms around me.
All I wanted to tell her was that there would be no more "our life." Not anymore.
I was about to lay it all out when her phone rang, cutting me off.
Carmen took the call, then smiled and tugged me toward the door.
"Come on, babe. My friends invited me to a get-together."
At the restaurant, Carmen's close friend Olivia Swanson sauntered over.
"Well, well, Carmen Harding. Some man's been keeping you very well taken care of lately. Too good for me now, is that it?"
The whole table erupted in laughter.
Their eyes drifted to me—some pitying, some mocking.
My fists clenched under the table. A voice inside my head whispered: You're leaving anyway. Give her one last day. End it clean.
But the moment I sat down, they switched to a dialect—right in front of me—assuming I couldn't understand. And they started talking about Carmen's affair.
"Holy shit, that's wild. I thought you were just bad at driving. Turns out you were failing on purpose."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. He never suspected a thing?"
"Carmen, be honest—doing it in the car is what keeps you coming back, isn't it?"
"Ha ha Haha! "
Carmen laughed without a shred of shame. "Obviously. It was Kerry's idea, actually. He said since my husband's a traffic cop, we should park illegally on purpose and see if he'd show up. The thrill of it? You guys couldn't even imagine."
"My husband never caught me—not once. It's that annoying cop with the last name who kept catching us."
"And don't you all act so innocent. You're no saints either."
I shot to my feet. I couldn't listen to another word of this filth.
The sudden movement startled them. They all assumed I couldn't understand their dialect.
But I'd learned it—taught myself, just to get closer to Carmen.
I wasn't about to reveal that now. I made up an excuse and left.
Carmen hadn't even given us the dignity of a clean ending.
I walked straight out of the restaurant. A Rolls-Royce was waiting for me at the curb.
Before leaving, I called Sebastian and told him to bring the gift I'd prepared for Carmen and come to my place tonight.
The moment Sebastian heard I was finally willing to let him come over and meet my wife, he laughed and agreed.
He was still saying how glad he was that I'd stopped hiding her away when I had the driver pull off. I took out my bank card, tossed it out the window, and severed every last tie to the past.
When night fell, Sebastian arrived at the door carrying a gift box.
"Honey, where did you run off to? I couldn't get through on the phone—do you know how scared I was?"
Carmen swung the door open—and locked eyes with Sebastian's grinning face.
Both of them turned to stone.
