After Three Years Apart, I Caught My Husband's Secret

I'd always thought that if we worked hard together for a few years, we'd finally get to share a life.

I never expected that the only one working hard was me.

Max had checked out long ago, moving another woman into the home I'd paid for.

His heart hadn't been mine for a long time.

"You don't need to bring up divorce."

I took a deep breath and contacted a lawyer to draw up the papers.

"Max, I'm the one saying it first."

Max's back went rigid. He turned slowly, staring at me like I'd spoken a foreign language.

"Madeline, how far are you going to take this tantrum before you stop?"

"Quit making a scene. Men like me are a dying breed."

"You really think you'll find someone better after divorcing me?"

"Every guy out there is the same."

His voice dripped with absolute certainty.

He had one thing right.

Maybe the men out there were all the same, every last one of them.

But if I went through with this divorce, I had no intention of looking again.

Max still wasn't done. He leaned in closer, his mockery curling around me like smoke.

"Besides, who's going to want a divorced woman? Seriously, think about it."

"Fine. I'll admit I was in the wrong here."

"I'll tell Abigail to pack her things and move out. You can move in. Happy now?"

I said nothing. I just handed him the itemized statement I'd prepared.

"The $30,000 down payment on the house, plus the $20,000 in savings you told me to leave with you for safekeeping. Principal and interest. All of it."

"Unless you'd rather I stop worrying about your reputation and take this to court."

Max's eyes landed on the document. The corner of his mouth twitched.

"Madeline, are you serious right now?"

"We're husband and wife. We have a marriage certificate. You're really going to nickel-and-dime me like this?"

I didn't bother responding. I signed the divorce agreement, slid it across the table toward him.

"I'd suggest you sign this and pay up. Fast. The longer you wait, the worse it gets for you."

The color drained from Max's face as he watched me walk calmly out the door.

He muttered a curse under his breath and hurled a throw pillow at the couch.

What he didn't know was that the moment I stepped outside the building, I did one thing.

The hotel footage of Max and the young woman. The proof that my down payment had gone to a condemned property while he hid his childhood sweetheart in the home I'd funded. Every last detail.

I forwarded all of it to his company group chat and posted it across every platform I could find.

Within minutes, my phone was vibrating nonstop.