Divorced at 35: My Two Million Payback

04

“Isabella, can’t you drop the pettiness for once? Linda and her parents have no one to lean on in this city. How do you not have an ounce of sympathy?”

“Ever since you got pregnant, your temper’s gotten worse and worse. You want to know why I don’t want to come home anymore?”

The time I was throwing up and running to the bathroom, I called him. He was busy helping Linda Donaldson shop for an air conditioner.

I called 911 and went to the hospital by myself. That was how I found out I was pregnant.

I didn’t tell him, because by then a seed of unease had already taken root in me.

I never imagined he already knew.

And his reaction was this: disgust that my pregnancy hormones were acting up.

“If you keep throwing these fits, I don’t see the point in this marriage anymore.”

The room went silent for a beat.

I closed my eyes, then turned to my parents. “I’m sorry. I let you down.”

The truth was, this marriage had been full of holes for a long time.

The only reason I held on was so my parents wouldn’t have to hang their heads in the village. After all, a daughter kept at home for thirty-five years had at least married up.

Dad stammered, “This—this…”

Austin curled his lip. “You’d better talk some sense into your daughter. A person needs a little perspective.”

Mom clutched her apron, anxious. “Don’t talk nonsense, Austin. Divorce is out of the question.”

Austin glanced at her the way you’d look at a servant who didn’t know her place, and didn’t even bother to answer.

Then Mom turned to me. “Bella, hurry up and apologize to Austin. You don’t want your child to grow up without a father, do you?”

“Your dad and I will leave right now. As long as the two of you are all right, that’s enough. We won’t stay here and make trouble for you.”

She stood as she spoke and reached for the suitcase.

I grabbed hold of her.

“Take my advice and don’t do anything rash…”

Austin’s voice suddenly dropped half a note. “…Look at you. How would you get by out there?”

“It’s different for me. At my age, there’s a whole line of people waiting for a shot at me.”

Linda tugged at the corner of her mouth and leaned her whole body into Austin, smug as a cat that had just gotten into the cream.

My hand around the suitcase handle loosened, then tightened again.

Just then, my phone buzzed.

“Bella, Linda Donaldson isn’t Austin’s childhood sweetheart. She’s his ex-wife.”

“To get the property-relocation payout, they secretly registered the divorce. They came out ahead by a thousand square feet of property and a million in cash.”

“He’s suspected of marriage fraud. And there’s a reason he chose you, one he can’t bring himself to say out loud…”

My head snapped up, and in a dry, cracked voice I said,

“Austin, we’re getting divorced.”