Outside her art studio, Tiana had a sign taped to the door:
"Charles and dogs not allowed."
I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I was done pretending I didn’t care.
“There’s nothing left to say, Tiana. I don’t love you anymore," I said flatly.
“What… what did you say?” Tiana flinched like I’d just smacked her. I could even see her lashes trembled.
“Charles, I gave birth to your child and now you say you don’t love me? Is your empathy dead?” Her shoulders shook uncontrollably as she cried.
My father-in-law, let out a sharp, irritated huff. “Well, Charles, you’re the one asking for this. If you go through with this divorce, don’t expect to walk away with a dime. You’ll leave with nothing.”
I didn’t respond. I just closed my eyes.
My silence only enraged them further. They helped the crying, broken Tiana to her feet and stormed toward the door.
“Stop wasting your tears on a man like him. Let’s go.”
They were clearly fuming, unable to make sense of it all—how a seemingly normal marriage had crumbled into something so bitter.
A few days later, my buddy Alex showed up at the hospital after hearing I’d been injured.
“Charles, what the hell happened to you, man?”
Alex had already heard the rumors. Everyone had.
Tiana smashing a vase over my head to protect her childhood crush—yeah, that one even made it to the local trending newsfeed.
Now, I was a walking meme, the butt of every joke online.
Alex looked at the bandages on my head and took a deep breath. “I thought you and your wife were the golden couple. How’d it end up like this?”
I stayed quiet for a long time before finally speaking. “Have you ever seen the David statue?”
Alex blinked. “You mean the naked one? In Rome? That David?”
“Yeah.”
He waited for me to go on.
“There’s one in Tiana’s art studio too.”
“No way. That’s gotta be a fake.” Alex blinked again, confused—and then let out a laugh.
“It is,” I said quickly. “But here’s the thing. It moves.”
"Huh?" Alex’s face froze. "What do you..."
He didn’t finish the sentence forming on his lips, but he understood what I was trying to say.
***
Two weeks passed.
After I was discharged, Tiana greeted me at home in lingerie she hadn’t worn in years. Her perfume filled the room. I could tell her get ups were intentional
“Chaz,” she cooed, brushing up against me, “I know I’ve been distant lately. So, tell me. Whatever you didn’t like, I’ll change.”
Her voice turned sugary sweet. She was acting like a kitten all of a sudden. I knew this act well, it was how she’d always tried to win me over.
But the moment I thought about that studio she never let me into—I instantly felt sick.
“Chaz…” She wrapped her arms around me from behind and kissed the back of my neck. “For all the neglect I've done, I’ll make up to you—ah!”
I’d shoved her off me, hard. She hit the floor with a thud.
Startled by my sudden aggression, Tiana finally lost it.
“Playing hard to get, Charles? I’ve apologized. I’ve tried to make it up to you. What the hell else do you want?!”
I looked at her flushed face. I couldn’t tell if she was flushed from anger—or from someone else’s touch.
“I’m not playing any games here. I've told you what I want: a divorce,” I spoke with disinterest.
Tiana froze. Even then, she kept begging, desperately trying to change my mind.
