Regretting the Divorce? Too Late

"Francis, do you accept your punishment for skipping work?" Ruby asked coldly again.

I nodded and said, "Sure. I was wrong."

Wrong for not seeing her for who she really was sooner. Wrong for putting up with all this for so long just because I couldn't bear to let go of a seven-year marriage.

Ruby didn't let me finish speaking. After I admitted my mistake, her mood clearly improved.

She said, "It's great that you know you were in the wrong. I'll let it go this time, but you'll have to make up for it. I sent you the details of a project. Look through it carefully and get the proposal done before the end of the holiday."

As soon as she finished speaking, my phone chimed with a new notification.

I glanced at the screen for a second and opened the message. As expected, it was another business deal Wilbur had messed up.

Over the years, Ruby had often forced me to clean up Wilbur's mess. For the sake of the company, I worked tirelessly to salvage the ruined negotiations. I had to endure the other party's judgmental and contemptuous looks while getting the deals finalized.

But eventually, I realized something.

If I handled things well, Wilbur would take credit for securing the deal, and he would get the bonus. But if things went badly, it meant I was incompetent, and I had to compensate by paying a penalty. Funnily enough, the bonus still went to him.

I let out a faint laugh and said calmly, "I can't do it."

"What did you say?" Ruby asked, bewildered.

She hadn't expected me to refuse. She was stunned for half a second before opening her mouth, ready to lose her temper and lash out at me.

But I didn't give her the chance. I hung up immediately.

Just then, the courthouse staff walked over and handed me a stamped document.

"Your paperwork has been submitted," she said. "Please come back in three days to collect the divorce certificate."

I nodded and silently counted the days.

This long holiday would end in three days, so Ruby would likely be back by then. I wondered how she would feel when she saw the divorce certificate.

…

On the first day of waiting to collect the certificate, I went to the company to resign. While HR was processing my resignation, I looked toward the photo wall of our company's team-building events.

Among them was a photo where Ruby was smiling affectionately as she fed me a skewer of grilled meat. Someone must have captured it candidly. Even after six years, I could still remember that sweet moment.

Back then, Ruby had just decided to start the company. As her husband, I had emptied my savings and even given up my high-paying job to support her without hesitation.

She had been overjoyed. That weekend, she organized an outdoor outing and introduced me to everyone in the company.

We had just gotten married back then, and she took every opportunity to show her affection toward me. She fed me and kissed my cheek in front of everyone, drawing teasing laughter from the crowd. People joked that they were about to get cavities from how sweet we were.

When that photo was taken, Ruby loved it very much. So much so that she framed it and placed it right in the most prominent spot at the center of the photo wall.

But now, times had changed.

The center spot had been replaced by a photo of her and Wilbur toasting each other at the annual party. The photo with me had been moved to an unassuming corner. I had to search for a while just to find it.

After thinking for a moment, I reached up and took the photo down.

The HR executive, Paige Jones, happened to see this. She wanted to stop me, but when she saw which photo I had taken, she swallowed her words. She figured that since Ruby didn't even care about me anymore, she wouldn't really care that the photo was gone.

"Your resignation has been approved. Just complete the handover and you can leave," Paige said monotonously while tossing me a form.

I froze for a moment and subconsciously asked, "That fast? Has Ruby signed it already?"

I wasn't really thinking when I asked that question. It was just that Ruby usually didn't check her phone much, so it typically took about two hours for a resignation to be processed.