After the Divorce, He Begged Me to Stay

During the years Lewis James was cheating on me, I threatened him countless times that I'd find a lover of my own.

By the hundredth time, he didn't even bother looking up.

Mrs. James, he said, a cigarette dangling between his lips, a lazy smile curling around the smoke, that's a hundred times now. You haven't slept with a single man. Aren't you tired of this game?

His phone buzzed. His expression softened instantly, and he waved the screen at me.

"Take your time. I'm going to see my girl."

I watched him walk out the door, and something inside me finally clicked into place.

A month later, Lewis came home.

He looked at me curled up on the couch.

"So, Mrs. James, did you find your boy toy this time?"

When I didn't answer, he gave me that I-knew-it look and laughed.

"Letty, ever since what happened in high school, you've had a serious hang-up about being touched. And I'm your only exception. So there's no way you could go through with it with another man."

My phone vibrated against my palm.

I looked down.

Letty, our babies are twins.

Below the message was an ultrasound photo.

A second text popped up right after.

Give me three days. I'm coming to marry you.

Lewis finally noticed I'd zoned out. Irritation crept into his voice.

"Are you even listening to me?"

I looked up at him, slightly dazed.

I'd been looking at this man's face for ten years.

Seven years of dating. Three years of marriage.

I remembered the day he proposed, so nervous he could barely get the words out. I remembered him crying at the altar, swearing he'd love me for the rest of his lives.

I also remembered the first night he didn't come home. The fight. The door slamming shut. Me sitting on the balcony until dawn.

After that, a hundred chances. A hundred threats. A hundred disappointments.

I thought this time would cut just as deep as all the others.

But watching his lips move now, I felt nothing.

My mind even drifted to another man.

His cool lips. His burning skin. His hands, searingly warm.

Every part of him. I loved every part.

He and I fit together better than Lewis and I ever had.

And more importantly, that man had been in love with me for ten years.

I stood up.

I was a full head shorter than Lewis, but for the first time, I felt like I was finally looking him in the eye.

"Lewis."

I said his name. My voice was perfectly calm.

"The divorce papers are printed and on the desk. Go sign them. City Hall closes soon. We need to hurry."

His expression froze.

I stepped past him and walked to the door to change my shoes.

As I passed, I caught a whiff of perfume on him.

Gardenia.

My favorite flower, once. I hadn't bought one since.

"Oh, by the way," I turned back and smiled at him, "your peace lily. I forgot to water it. It's dead."

Lewis pressed his lips into a thin line.

The warning sign before his temper.

I didn't care. "After the divorce, I'm walking away with nothing. Including this apartment. It's all spelled out in the agreement. If you don't believe me, go read it."

"But Edamame is mine. I know you're the one who got him, but you've been gone for years, and I'm the one who's been taking care of him. I can't give him up."

"I've got the divorce paperwork and the move to deal with these next couple of days, so I won't have time for him. I dropped him off at a pet boarding place yesterday."

Silence.

I looked up. Lewis had closed the distance between us.

He stared at me, hard.

Just when I thought he was about to interrogate me, he laughed.

"Baby, who coached you this time? Switching up the playbook? You want a divorce?"

I blinked, then met his gaze with absolute seriousness. "Nobody coached me, Lewis. I want a divorce. For real this time."

When he saw how serious I was, he suddenly burst out laughing.

"Babe, quit joking around. If you divorced me, where would you even go?"

"You're an orphan. No parents, no family to run home to."

"Oh, right! You said you don't want any assets. You've been a housewife for how many years now? You walk away with nothing, then what? What are you going to do?"

"Paint? But babe, you haven't picked up a brush in years, and nobody knows your name. You really think anyone's going to buy your work?"

Every word he said.

My heart sank a little deeper.

Lewis ruffled my hair with that indulgent smile of his. "Alright, stop throwing a fit. The girl's on her period today, she's in a bad mood, and I need to go keep her company. I'll have my assistant transfer some extra money to your account later. Consider it making it up to you."

He picked up his car keys, still smiling, and walked out.

I watched his retreating figure.

Lewis, I'm not throwing a fit this time. I genuinely don't want to be with you anymore.

I looked down at my phone and messaged a lawyer:

Can I file for divorce unilaterally?

As long as you have sufficient evidence of the other party's infidelity, yes.

After leaving the law firm, I called my best friend, Althea Pruitt, and told her everything.

Althea's eyes turned red on the spot.

"Letitia! Are you fucking kidding me? You call yourself my friend? Something this huge and you're only telling me NOW?"

"That piece of shit Lewis! I always knew there was something off about him. I always said he was no good!"

"And now he's not just cheating out in the open, he has the nerve to humiliate you? I'm going to kill him. Right now."

I laughed and grabbed her hand, shaking my head. "Calm down. I don't care anymore."

That only made it worse. The moment the words left my mouth, Althea started crying.

"How can you not care? You were together for ten years! I watched every single one of those years closer than anyone. I know exactly what you went through!"

"Do you have any idea how much you suffered for him? That time you went to the competition for his sake"

She caught the shift in my expression and immediately changed course. "Forget it. Point is, I can't stand that bastard. If he thinks he can do this to you, I swear I'll find a way to destroy him and that homewrecker both."

Watching her rage on my behalf like that.

My nose stung.

All these years, having someone like her by my side. That was enough.

"Okay, Thea, enough with the depressing stuff."

"I have good news for you."

Althea blinked. "Good news?"

I smiled and placed her hand on my lower belly. "You're going to be a godmother."

Her eyes went wide. "You're keeping Lewis's baby? Letitia, have you lost your mind? He cheated on you!"

I knew she'd react like that.

"It's not his."

"What?" Her voice shot up an octave.

Every head in the restaurant turned our way.

I grabbed her arm. "Keep it down."

Althea looked dazed, like she'd been hit by one bombshell after another and her brain was still trying to catch up.

"You better start talking. Now."

I nodded. "Remember Frederick Pruitt from high school? The genius?"

"Of course I remember. Same last name as me, completely different brain."

I let a small smile curl my lips, about to say It's his

When a low voice came from beside us. "Letitia, what are you doing here?"

I turned my head. Lewis was walking out of a private dining room with a young, pretty girl on his arm.

"You son of a bitch! I was just looking for you!"

The second Althea laid eyes on him, she snatched the bottle of ketchup off the table, marched over, and slammed it against his shirt with a sharp, open-palmed smack.

"Do you have a goddamn conscience? You actually had the nerve to cheat!"

"Do you deserve Letty? Do you deserve everything she went through all those years, standing by your side through every hardship?"

"I'm going to destroy you today!"

The woman at Lewis's side immediately stepped in front of him, shielding him with her body. "Who the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on my man?"

"Your man?" Althea let out a disbelieving laugh. "Sweetheart, let me spell it out for you. He's a married man. That makes you the other woman. The homewrecker. Have you got no shame at all?"

Yolanda McDaniel scoffed. "In love, the one who isn't loved is the real third wheel. Lewis and I are in love with each other. If anyone's the outsider, it's that old hag over there."

She turned her gaze toward me, her eyes dripping with smugness.

Althea seized a fistful of her hair without warning. "Your mother didn't teach you any manners, so I'll do it myself."

"Ahhh!"

Yolanda was yanked to the ground. Before she could react, her clothes were torn open. She clutched her chest, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at Lewis. "Lewis, get this psycho away from me!"

Lewis snapped out of it and shoved Althea off. "Althea, you can't even keep your own husband in line. What gives you the right to lecture anyone else?"

The color drained from Althea's face.

My expression went cold. I stood up and slapped him across the face.

"Lewis! You have no right to say that to her!"

He took the slap without flinching. He looked at me, his expression dark, but he said nothing.

The woman in his arms, however, couldn't keep quiet. Her eyes red, she screamed at me.

"You old hag, how dare you hit him! I wouldn't even lay a finger on him, and you have the nerve to slap"

Crack.

The sharp sound cut her off mid-sentence.

Yolanda clutched her cheek, staring at me in utter disbelief. "You hit me?"

I smiled coldly. "You have the nerve to be someone's mistress, and I don't have the nerve to hit you?"

"Even concubines in the old days knew not to bark at the wife of the house. But somehow you don't have an ounce of shame."

"Then again, only someone like you would pick up another woman's trash and parade it around like a trophy."

Yolanda trembled with rage. "You think you're so perfect? You were assaulted back in high school. You even got pregnant from it! Lewis was the one who scraped together the money to pay for your abortion. He stayed with you in the hospital for over a month. And you dare"

"You have no right to talk about that!" My vision blurred red. I lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair.

Yolanda's face twisted in pain. "Am I wrong, though?"

I raised my hand to slap her again, but Lewis caught my wrist and flung it aside.

"Enough! Letitia, there's a limit to how far you can push this!"

"I'm pushing it?" My eyes burned. "Lewis, get your facts straight! She started it"

"Was she wrong?" Lewis cut me off, his voice like ice.

Every drop of warmth left my body. "What did you just say?"

Lewis repeated himself, his tone flat and merciless. "I said, was she wrong? Were you not assaulted? Did you not have an abortion? So tell mewhere exactly did she lie?"

Each word carved into me like a blade. My legs nearly gave out beneath me.

Yolanda nestled against his chest, satisfaction written all over her face.

I started to laugh. A broken, hollow laugh, my eyes burning crimson as I fixed them on him. "Lewis, you truly disgust me."

I turned to leave.

Something flickered in Yolanda's eyes. The moment my back was turned, she shoved me.

I lost my balance. My stomach slammed into the edge of the table.

"Ahh!"

"Letty!"

Althea's face changed. She rushed toward me.

I pressed both hands against my abdomen, feeling a warm stream sliding down between my legs. The blood drained from my face in an instant.

Lewis came to his senses and moved toward me, but before he could take a step, Yolanda suddenly cried out too.

"Lewis! I feel so dizzy... I think I'm losing too much blood."

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she collapsed into Lewis's arms.

Lewis glanced at me, then down at the woman draped against his chest.

He chose her. Scooped Yolanda up and strode out without a backward glance.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Lewis?!" Althea screamed after him.

Her hands were shaking as she dialed 911.

By the time the paramedics loaded me onto the stretcher, my vision was swimming. Then everything went black.

...

I woke to the sharp sting of antiseptic.

My hand flew to my stomach before I even opened my eyes.

A nurse's voice came from beside the bed. "Don't worry. The babies are fine. Tough little ones."

The breath I'd been holding rushed out of me. "Thank you," I whispered, my voice raw.

Then something occurred to me. "Is Dr. Pruitt here? At this hospital?"

"Dr. Pruitt?" The nurse smiled. "Frederick Pruitt?"

I nodded.

"He took time off. Word is his girlfriend's pregnant, and he went home to get things ready for the wedding." She let out a wistful sigh. "Years and years, nobody even knew he had a girlfriend. Then out of nowhere we hear she's pregnant and he's planning a wedding. Broke a lot of hearts around here, let me tell you."

I smiled and rested my hand against my belly.

"Make sure you take it easy after discharge," the nurse said, her tone turning serious. "Rest. No more accidents." She gave me a firm look, then turned and walked out.

I pushed the covers aside and got out of bed to handle the paperwork.

It had been days since I'd seen Mochi.

I decided to go pick him up. The divorce would be finalized soon anyway.

But when I got to the pet groomer's, they told me he'd already been collected.

"About half an hour ago. Your husband came for him. You two brought the dog in together before, so when he showed up, I handed him over. Didn't think twice about it."

I thanked them and walked out. My expression had gone cold.

Still, I opened my messages and typed:

Is Mochi with you? I'm coming to get him.

The reply came instantly:

Come over. I'm at our house.

Mochi's bed, his food, his toys were all still at the house.

I could grab everything in one trip.

I hailed a cab and headed straight there.

The front door of the villa stood wide open.

But the moment I stepped inside, I froze.

Mochi's bed was destroyed. Torn apart.

Scraps of blood-matted fur and splintered bone lay scattered across the floor. The blood had pooled and half-dried, catching the morning light in a sickening shade of red.

A small brown head had rolled to one side. His eyes were still open, staring up at the gray sky. Seeing nothing.

I stood there. I couldn't move. I couldn't think.

Time stopped. The only thing that existed was the thick, coppery reek of blood forcing its way into my lungs.

Then a piece of brown fur sailed through the air like a discarded rag, landing at my feet.

A sweet, girlish voice drifted out from inside.

"Stupid mutt. Skinning it was harder than I thought."

Yolanda stepped out, her hands slick with blood. She waved them in front of me, casual, almost playful.

My eyes flooded red.

"You killed Mochi?"

"Yep." She didn't even flinch. There was a note of pride in her voice. "He bit me. What did he expect? Besides, Lewis said I could. He knows I'm studying veterinary medicine, and my dissection skills need work. So he let me practice on it."

Practice.

The word drove into my chest like a poisoned needle.

I snatched a wooden stick off the ground and swung it at her, my vision blurred with rage. "Yolanda! I'll kill you!"

The stick never reached her. A large hand caught it mid-swing.

"Letitia. Are you done?"

Lewis's voice was cold as ice.

I looked at him. The hand gripping the stick trembled.

"Lewis, you let her kill Mochi? Are you even human? Do you have a heart at all? How could you do that to him?"

Lewis swept his gaze over the wreckage on the floor. Something flickered in his eyesa flash of pain, gone almost instantly, buried beneath that familiar cold mask.

"It was just a dog."

Just a dog.

A dog.

My hand shot out, pointing at the remains scattered across the floor, my voice trembling. "She was with us for fourteen years! Fourteen years, Lewis! And you call her just a dog?"

A sharp sting lanced through Lewis's chest.

His jaw tightened. "I'll buy you another one. Identical."

I laughed. The sound that came out of me was hollow, broken, and my eyes were burning red.

"Don't bother. Even if it looked exactly the same... it wouldn't be her."

I turned around. Slowly, I crouched down and began piecing Mochi's scattered body back together, fragment by fragment.

When my fingertips touched that tiny head, the tears fell without warning.

I slipped off my coat and wrapped her up with all the care I had left, cradling the bundle against my chest.

"Come on, Mochi. Mama's taking you home. We're never coming back."

Lewis watched my retreating figure until it disappeared. His heart clenched, one stab after another, beyond his control.