Yessenia froze. Panic flickered in her eyes, only to disappear a moment later.
My mother-in-law stepped up, scoffing. “Didn’t I explain this already? Yessenia has postpartum depression. That little closet makes her feel safe and calm. She just wants a quiet, enclosed space. And you think that’s something to pick a fight over?”
Yestin finally lost it. “She already said she’d stop sleeping in the closet! She’s trying! What more do you want?”
I didn’t bother to respond to either of them.
Instead, I said coldly, “I want divorce.”
My in-laws, who had stayed quiet until now, stiffened. Just as they were about to speak, a knock came at the door.
Three slow, deliberate knocks. “Anyone home?”
Yestin gave me a sharp look, then rushed to answer it.
Standing there was our next-door neighbor—Connor Xenon. Towering at 6'6", handsome and polite, he held a bag of candy in one hand and a sack of bread in the other.
Sensing the tension in the room, he paused, then stepped inside carefully.
“Uh, my wife just found out she’s pregnant,” he said, offering a small smile. “We ended up with way too much candy and bread, so I thought I’d share some with the neighbors. Y’know, spread a little happiness.”
As he spoke, Connor’s gaze finally landed on Yessenia.
She lowered her head in silence. I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination, but a faint blush crept across her face.
Too bad no one else seemed to notice.
My father-in-law and mother-in-law’s expressions softened a little as they accepted the candy and bread from him.
“Thank you so much! Not many neighbors would think of us like this,” they said gratefully.
But Connor made no move to leave. He glanced around, then cautiously asked, “Did you guys have a fight?”
“Divorce!” Yestin snapped, shooting a glare at me.
Connor flinched. “Ouch!”
Then he quickly walked over to try and mediate. “Come on, buddy, couples should try to understand each other. You can’t just get divorced over a disagreement.”
He gave me an earnest look. “My wife’s only a few months pregnant and she’s already in so much pain she can’t sleep at night. I’m up all night too, massaging her back just so she can rest. But that’s what a man’s supposed to do because he loves his wife.”
Everyone turned to Connor with admiration.
“That’s a real man. He knows how to take care of his wife,” someone murmured.
My mother-in-law snorted coldly. “I wish my son-in-law was like that. Too bad he’s just a petty man.”
Tears welled in Yessenia’s eyes as she took another step toward me. “Jackson, I’m not asking you to be some perfect husband like the neighbor. I just want peace. Our son is nearly a year old. Do you really want him growing up without a father?”
I shoved her hand away, sneering. “Don’t touch me. Since when is your son going to be without a father?”
I looked her dead in the eye. “Go ahead, divorce me. You can take him to whoever actually made him.”
Her breath caught. For a moment, she just stood there, silent and stunned.
Then her family lost it.
“Jackson, you monster! How dare you say that now?”
“You don’t deserve to be called a man!”
Yestin’s expression turned murderous. He charged over, grabbed my collar and yanked me up from the wheelchair.
“Break one leg and suddenly you think you’re safe?” he hissed. “Keep talking like that and I swear I’ll break the other one too!”
I didn’t flinch. “Do it. Nothing changes. I’m still getting that divorce.”
