“Please, Lila. Give me another chance. For us.”
Her eyes flashed. “Forus?” She scoffed. “There is nous, Victor. I loved you more than life itself! So what if we didn’t fuck for a while, huh? Did you have to go and get it somewhere else? Isthatwhat I meant to you?”
“Baby, no…” My voice cracked and my hands trembled.
“I’m not here to listen to your bullshit excuses. Just do the right thing for me now and sign the damn papers.”
She shoved them toward me, and the pen hit my knuckles.
“If you love me at all, Victor, you’ll give me my life back.”
Her words slammed into me. Her life. Her entire fuckinglifewas ruined by my affair.
Her home, money—everything was linked to me. We’d built a life together.
And I’d ruined it.
My fingers shook as I picked up the pen, feeling like a condemned man. Sticky notes highlighted where I had to sign, and I took a deep breath.
“Are you sure?—”
“I’m sure.” She cut me off before I could even finish.
We locked eyes, and I saw her determined nod.
For Lila.
I signed it with tears streaming down my face.
For Lila.
Every line I signed was smudged with tears, but I was doing it for her.
“And the listing agreement,” Lila said from beside me, holding out more fucking paperwork. I could smell her jasmine perfume, the scent of the soap we always used at home still lingering on her skin.
She took the divorce papers from me, and I stared at the listing agreement, our address printed at the top in bold letters.
The house we’d lived in and loved for so many years.
“Please,” I whispered, reaching out for her hand and pulling it to my lips. “Please, I’m so sorry.”
Lila didn’t jerk her hand back or say anything; she let me hold it like a child would, clutching it like it would solve anything.
I clung to her, to my wife, my eyes shut as she allowed me this brief moment of comfort.
“I can’t, Victor,” she murmured, her voice cracking. “Please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”
Then she peeled her hand away from mine as she stepped back, avoiding my gaze.
I drank in the sight of her, my wife, the only woman I’ve ever loved, and shook my head.
“I’ll hate myself forever for what I did to you.” Then I turned to the paperwork and signed it, the pen denting the paper with the weight of my hand.
Lila inhaled a deep breath and took the listing paperwork from me, her hands trembling.
“If it helps, I’ll hate you too. But thank you for at least doing this.”
Then she moved past me, and I heard the front door close behind her.
