Page 35 of Cursing My Cheating Husband

“Trust me, it’s warranted.”

Gods bless his timing, because just then I heard the door open. “Callie?” Maddox called out. The booming, authoritative tone I was used to hearing from him was gone. His voice was tentative and questioning.

What a perfect tableau for him to return home to. Me, sharing a glass of wine with an attractive, square-jawed, strapping man in an expensive suit that emphasized his powerful build. “We’re in the kitchen, Maddox!”

He stopped dead when he crossed the doorway and saw the hunk I was with. I guessed his new position hadn’t sunk in fully yet, because he had the unbelievable nerve to bristle visibly at Grant’s presence. “Who the fuck is this?” Maddox demanded.

Annoyance surged through me. How had I ever put up with this man? How could I have had such terrible taste? “Relax, we’re not sleeping together. This is Grant, my divorce attorney. He was just delivering the final version of our divorce settlement.” I turned to Grant. “Do you have a pen? Maddox is ready to sign.”

Maddox’s anger flared as he stepped toward us, suddenly seething. “We can’t be at a final settlement when this is the first I’m hearing the word divorce! I haven’t agreed to anything!”

“Haven’t you, though?” I gave him a little “so sad” smile and dropped my gaze to his crotch.

His face immediately flushed red. That wasn’t something I had ever seen from him before. He wasn’t a blusher. He was so terrified I was going to reveal to the still-virile man next to me what had happened to him.

It was funny. In our entire relationship, I had never wanted to feel dominant over Maddox. This was a new sensation that I’d never sought, but I liked it.

“I take it you’re back because you want to try to earn my forgiveness?”

His shoulders tensed. “Yes.”

“I’m not surprised. I’ve given it some thought, and I am fine with you living in the basement for the time being.”

“The basement?!?” he yelped. That was the reaction I was looking for. It was a grim, unfinished space, dank, stuffy, and unventilated, with a persistent rodent problem we’d been struggling with since we moved in. The one dreadful space in this otherwise gorgeous home.

I took a leisurely sip of my wine. “I’m going to be clear with you. The only way to possibly get me in a forgiving mood is for you to spend a very, very, very long time doing whatever it takes to keep me happy. And right now there is nothing that would make me happier than you signing this divorce settlement.”

“But I’m here to win you back!”

I scoffed. “That’s sweet. If you ever pull it off, we’ll get remarried. In the meantime, I want to be free to enjoy the same sexual freedoms you’ve taken for yourself, and I want to do it as an officially single woman. Sign the document. Grant, pen?”

Grant clicked the pen already in his hand and extended it to Maddox. What a smooth guy.

Maddox didn’t take it immediately. He was looking back and forth between me and Grant. Trying to work out his next move. The poor, trapped dummy. Nervousness flickered across his face. He clenched his jaw again. The struggle couldn’t be more obvious.

“What are the terms?” he said finally.

“Oh, they absolutely could not be worse for you. You turn over everything to me, every asset you have. One hundred percent of your money, your investment accounts, the house, all of your personal possessions… all three cars.” I loved the flicker of pain the last one produced in his eyes. He loved those cars, more than he had ever loved me. “Literally everything you own, every dime you have to your name, will be mine now. It’s very clear-cut. I take all of everything, and you start your life over from absolute zero.”

He opened his mouth, fury still radiating from his rigid posture.

“Let me stop you before you say something you regret. Think carefully before you speak,” I warned.

His body started twitching a little. He was so coiled and tense. An explosion was building inside him. He hated this feeling almost as much as I loved watching it.

“Just give me a night to think about it.” He was imagining there was a way out of this with just a few more hours of thinking!

“If you insist. Just be aware, taking a night to think about it will make me very… very… very unhappy. So unhappy that I might just bail on this whole situation, move far away, and never let you know where I’ve gone. How are you going to win my forgiveness if you can’t even find me?”

His face contorted in the most pained grimace I’d ever witnessed. The new order was sinking in. He took the pen, bringing it to the paper with a shaking hand. He wanted so badly to find a way out of this. It was like his body was fighting him. The pen would be about to make contact with the paper, and then he’d jerk back a little, his hand trembling. I watched him struggle with himself, the war playing out across his features. He ground his teeth as beads of sweat formed at his temple.

But at last he recognized he had only one move. He signed, unable to suppress an anguished, gutted moan as he did so.

Grant shot to his feet. “Oh my god! I can’t believe he actually signed it!” He turned toward Maddox. “I can’t believe you signed that!”

I snatched the papers right back and countersigned. My marriage was over! I supposed technically they had to be filed with the court first, but I was not waiting for technicalities. In my heart, this was the moment I felt the marriage end.

The most incredible feeling of relief washed over me. I was free. I felt like I was flying.