I walked into the living room and dropped the envelope in front of her without a word. My wife looked up from the TV, blinking at me like I was a stranger. A pizza at the door? ” she asked,d half smiling.
”No,” I said. ”Open it. ”
She did, and the smile vanished the moment she saw the header. ”Divorce papers?
“”You know why,” I said. ”I didn’t wait for her to respond. I told her what I had found out, straight to her face. I told her about the chats, about Daniel, about the reason she had suddenly gotten pregnant after months of trying and failing.
I told her I knew the baby probably wasn’t mine, and I wanted nothing to do with her anymore. . ”The baby is yours,” she said, tears starting. ”It’s not his.
””
“How do you know that for sure? ” I asked. ”You called me infertile. Why would you even think it was mine?
””
“She just kept crying. I told her, best thing for her would be to sign the papers and get it over with. If the child turned out to be mine, we’d figure out co-parenting. But there was no reason for me to stay.
She said I didn’t understand why she did what she did. I told her I understood just fine. We could have kept trying. We could have tried IVF, adopted, found another way.
But she chose to find someone else to get her pregnant. She signed, eventually, but it took forever. And we started divorce proceedings. .
That was when things really turned. We couldn’t settle, so it went to court. And the judge took her side, even though I had proof she had cheated. She got the house.
I got ordered to pay alimony. The child hadn’t been born yet, so support wasn’t an issue. But a prenatal paternity test was ordered,something I hadn’t even known existed. When the results came back, it was no surprise.
I wasn’t the father. Daniel was学. I wasn’t prepared for how much that hurt,. For months, I had been split, not knowing if I wanted the baby,.
But the moment I found out it wasn’t mine,, I realized I had wanted it all along学. Someone else had done what I couldn’t,, and the courts had sided with her despite everything. Something came loose inside me. I decided I was going to ruin her life学.
. I waited until the divorce was final,. Then I went back to the house with a police escort to get my things学. She stood at the doorway, watching me pack,, and when I was done,, she said,, in that quiet voice,, like she was doing me a favor,, that she’d be willing to take me back.
I wanted to hit her. If the cop hadn’t been standing there,, I think I might have学. It didn’t matter. That just made me more determined容.
. I started with Daniel,. I called him,, told him who I was. He wasn’t concerned,.
Said he had heard about the divorce and didn’t have much sympathy for me学. I told him I felt the same,. And that I’d made sure he’d see exactly how much sympathy I had for him脚. The next Sunday,, I went to his church.
He didn’t recognize me until it was too late. After the service,, I stood at the exit and handed flyers to everyone leaving,. Pictures of him and my ex-wife,. Copies of their messages.
I handed out maybe fifty before he and a few other men grabbed me. I broke loose and threw the rest into the air. Let them clean that mess up容. He wasn’t the one I really wanted,though容.
I went after Elizabeth next容. The easy part was exposing her. I told everyone she knew what she had done,. That she wanted a baby so badly she cheated on her husband and tried to pass off another man’s child as his.
It worked,. People reached out to me in droves,. Sympathy,. And alongside it,a lot of nasty talk about her学.
I won’tlie,, it felt good容. She called me eventually,, furious,, ranting for minutes straight. I listened,. Said nothing,, and let her hang up solving容.
Her parents called too,. Good Christian folk,. They didn’t take her side explicitly,, but they didn’t take mine either,. Just said they were sorry it had all gone down the way it did.
I appreciated it,, even knowing I wouldn’t have anything to do with them going forward容. Then I went for her job容. I still knew her passwords. I logged into her email,, got access to her work correspondence,.
Downloaded a few documents clearly marked confidential. And then,, for fun,, I sent her boss a message cursing him out,, written like she was drunk,. At two in the morning容. I uploaded the documents into one of their shared groups,.
And then I uploaded screenshots of her chats with Daniel,. So she’d know it was me,, but no one else would容. She called me about two hours later,. Not just mad,, threatening容.
I played dumb. Told her I had no idea what she was talking about,. I had covered my tracks well enough,. She demanded to know where I lived,.
I refused容. I was leaving the state in a week,. She was the last thing on my agenda容. One last jab,.
I called her up,and asked how her baby daddy was doing容. She got furious at the phrase. I asked if she was still hearing from him,. She didn’t answer.
I knew then that he had probably distanced himself after the church scene,. And now she was dealing with the consequences of her choices,. Alone,. Her job was investigating her,.
Her baby daddy was abandoning her,. Everyone knew what she was. I told her it wasn’t enough,. That I wished I had done more,.
But she’d have to live with that. For now容. I don’t know where it came from,, but I started laughing,. I felt good knowing she felt defeated容.
I could hear her sniffling,. So I told her,, just to twist the knife,, that despite everything,, I missed her,. And if she wanted,, we could try again,. Stop hating each other容.
I sold it,. Really sold it容. She called back hours later,. Said she had been thinking it over,.
She was sorry,. She wanted to give it another shot容. I told her we should meet where we first met,. A beach four hours away容.
She said yes容. On the day,, I drove thirty minutes to a different beach,. And right on time,, she called,. Asked where I was,.
I told her I was looking for her,, asked her to send a picture of where she was,. She did,. I saw her there,, alone,, waiting,. And I blocked her number,and turned off my phone容.
I know I acted unhinged,. But I don’t regret any of it容. I feel lighter now,. Like I finally got my hit back容.
She earned every ounce of it,. She built her new life on deceit than had the audacity to act like she was doing me a favor by taking me back,. So I made sure she felt the weight of every choice she made chees.
No one will ever convince me I was in the wrong.
