“You weremyhusband,” I point out angrily. “Until you cheated on me.”
“Oh, come on, Teeny! I already said I was sorry. What more do you want?”
“I don’t want anything from you. I already said this is over. I don’t know why you’re here, telling me I’m your wife when I’ve never felt further than being your anything at this moment.”
“So that’s what this is? You’re cheating on me because I cheated on you? You’re trying to get back at me?”
I groan, my frustration building in heaps inside of me, making skin crawl and my heart race. “No! You are absolutely ridiculous! I amnotcheating on you! Nothing is going on with me and Everett. So don’t go and minimize what you did as if it’s not a big deal. You broke us!”
“What do you mean, ‘I broke us?’” he questions with an incredulous tilt of his head. “You’re the one who kicked me out. You’re the one who wants a divorce. I’m over here, willing to work through this and get past what happened.”
“And I’m not, Leo.” All kindness and affection have left my bones. I’ve been wrung dry, and it doesn’t even hurt. I just feel numb. “I’m not willing to look past whatyoudid. I don’t want to anymore.”
“Then don’t spew this bullshit that I broke us when you’re the one giving up.”
“Fine. I don’t care anymore. Go back to your mistress, or go find some new side piece who’s going to give you the attention you want so badly. I don’t give a shit anymore.”
“Teeny—”
“No, Leo. I’mdone. I’ve been done for way too long. Maybe it was a good thing you cheated on me. I can’t imagine how badly you would’ve badgered me into staying if I at least didn’t have that to hold against you.”
“I—”
“And for some fucking reason, it’s still not enough,” I cut him off, not even caring what he has to say anymore. I’m on a roll, my words spilling out of me, right alongside the resentment I no longer care to hold back. “Even with you being caught red-handed, it’s still not enough. You still can’t seem to understand how badly you hurt me and Sadie. All you can focus on is that I’m being unreasonable and shoving aside the blame on me.”
“Teeny, don’t?—”
“I’m serious, Leo. I’m so goddamn done. If I need to talk to you, I’ll go through my lawyers.”
“Teeny, please.” He takes a lunging step forward, his movements desperate, and my body instinctively recoils. He wouldn’t hurt me, he’s never laid hands on me, and I can’t imagine he’d resort to any sort of violence, but with the desperation and rage dancing in his eyes and his sudden jerky movements, my arms go up to shield myself.
And that’s when Everett steps in. “I think you need to leave,” he says, his voice icy and rigid.
“What? Are you going to force me to leave? Kick me out? You don’t even belong here. Last I checked, I was her husband.”
Everett stays quiet, positioning himself between me and Leo, acting like a shield with his back to me. He’s standing firm on his request for Leo to leave before things get out of hand and the rest of my family bears witness to this downfall of my marriage.
“Well, come on!” Leo shoves Everett in the chest, and Everett barely leans an inch back. “Tell me to leave again! You want me out of here so badly. Let’s see you force me out.” Everett doesn’t fight back. Instead, he stands there, his hands braced at his sides with his face hardened like stone.
“Leo!” I shout. I was merely frustrated before, irate due to his inability to take responsibility for his infidelity and his deftness as shifting the blame on me, but now I’m livid. “Get Sadie and leave before I call James out here.”
Leo looks between me and Everett, an incredulous look of shock taking over his features. “Are you kidding me? You’re going to let him tell me to leave?”
“No.I’mtelling you to leave.”
“Christine,” he says, calling my name with a seriousness I hate hearing from him. “Don’t do this.”
“It’s already done.” I pause and finally look at him. I notice how Everett’s posture softens next to me, letting me finish what I want to say so I can get the last word in. “Please, make Sadie your priority. She needs you, and I can’t watch you break her heart like you broke mine.”
I didn’t mean for it to happen like this, with Everett’s steely presence fixed to my side, but I’m thankful for him right now. I don’t think I would’ve been able to say what I wanted to say without his confidence and sympathetic gaze.
I turn to walk away, not bothering to wait for a response from Leo. I feel Everett trail behind me as I walk into the kitchen. It’s empty, thankfully, as everyone is outside now gathering around the food. I ignore Leo as he walks through the gate from the back, saying a polite hello to my parents and brothers and collecting Sadie.
This man who I vowed to love for the rest of my life is now walking through my childhood home as if he’s a stranger. The same home he helped move me out of when we got engaged. The same home we visit on the holidays with our arms full of gifts. And the idea that this separation isn’t just about me anymore, it’s about my family and Sadie, brings on an onslaught of guilt. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I did break our family. I let my insecurities and hatred for his actions dictate our future.
My heart wrenches in my chest, and the tears start spilling before I can reach for a paper towel to catch their fall down my cheeks. The rip of the rough paper mingles with my harsh sniffles and whimpers, and I know it’s no use in trying to hide it anymore.
“Teeny.” Everett’s soft voice feels like a balm to all the pain twisting inside of me, and it makes the tears fall harder. My back is to him, too embarrassed to show my face to him. I’m dabbing at my eyes over the sink when I feel his reassuring hands on my shoulders. He starts to turn me around, not forcing me but guiding me to face him. “Are you okay?”
