When My Son Died, My Wife Was Busy Picking Up Her First Love

The house felt eerily quiet without Rocco.

Looking at the scattered toys around my feet, I wished more than anything that I could hear him call out just one more time.

"Dad."

But it was over. My son would never open his eyes again.

As I sat there, holding one of his toys, tears streaming down my face, I suddenly heard the sharp click of the front door opening.

The sound was echoing through the living room.

Reyna stormed in, tossing her bag onto the couch with an irritated huff, scanning the room for any sign of Rocco.

With obvious impatience, she snapped at me.

"Where's your son? Where the hell is he? His tutor called me several times today, asking where he was. He's gotten so bold, skipping class like that! Doesn't he realize he only came in second on the last test?"

Her barrage of insults hammered into my head.

Even as an adult, hearing those words stung deeply. How much worse must it have been for Rocco, who was only an elementary school kid?

When I didn't respond, her anger flared even more.

She pointed a finger at me, shouting.

"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf or something? I don't get you, Dayton! You have a good life, but it's like you've had enough of it. Why do you keep stirring up trouble every day, picking on Alfredo? What's your problem?!"

Staring at the woman I had loved for so many years, I suddenly couldn't hold back my laughter.

She came home maybe once every ten days or so, and whenever she did, it was to defend her first love.

She didn't even bother to ask about her missing son.

Still staring at Rocco's toys, I finally told her what I had been holding back.

"He's dead. Rocco is dead. The day you left us, he was killed by a mentally ill man..."

I couldn't bear to finish.

I had thought that telling her this would make her feel something, that it would move her in some way.

But all she did was freeze for a moment before laughing.

"Dayton, do you think I'll be fooled by you? Do you really expect me to fall for your little tricks? You're just trying to get me to let up on his extra classes. How pathetic do you have to be to make up a lie like that?"

How could such a mother even exist?!

She was just a mother who couldn't care less about her child.

Suddenly, I stood up from the couch. Reyna flinched, startled, and instinctively took a step back.

"What are you doing? Are you going to hit me now?!"

I didn't respond but just shoved the divorce papers I had prepared into her hands.

Something felt stuck in my throat, making it hard to speak. My voice came out rough and strained as I said.

"Reyna, I'm giving you what you want. You can be with Alfredo now. Let's get a divorce."

The atmosphere in the room froze instantly.

Reyna stared at me in disbelief, her eyes darting between me and the divorce papers.

Her hands trembled as she took them, and just when I thought she was going to sign...

She suddenly flew into a rage. She tore the papers into shreds, throwing them on the floor.

And then she stomped on them furiously.

After several seconds, she looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot, and spat out.

"Dayton, you begged me to marry you! You groveled on your knees for years, and I took pity on you! If it weren't for that, do you think I would have ever agreed? Now you want to divorce me? No way!"

With that, she slammed the door behind her as she stormed out, not sparing me another glance.

Watching her crazed behavior, I suddenly felt a strange sense of confusion.

Hadn't she always said that marrying me was the biggest humiliation of her life?

So why didn't she want to leave me now?

If she signed the papers, she could be with Alfredo openly and without shame.

So why was she so angry?

For the first time, I realized I couldn't understand her at all.