Chapter 3
I was packing up my things.
The home we'd shared for five years now felt like nothing more than cold concrete and steel to me.
The wedding photo hanging on the wall showed me beaming with happiness, but now it seemed like a cruel joke.
I took it down and threw it straight into the trash without a second thought.
My phone was buzzing like crazy on the table. It was Sylvia calling.
I let it ring until it hung up by itself.
Soon, another call came in.
It was Clayton.
I swiped to answer, put it on speaker, and kept packing. "Yvonne, what are you trying to do? Spit it out." Clayton's voice blasted from the speaker, weak from surgery but unable to hide his fury.
I placed a few of Jasper's toys into the box and said calmly, "I've made myself clear. We're divorced. I'm packing up and getting ready to leave."
"Leave? Where are you even going? Who said you could walk out?" Clayton snapped.
"Clayton, did you forget? We're nothing to each other now. I don't need your permission for anything," I replied.
He seemed to choke on my words. There was a brief silence on the other end, then he exploded even more furiously. "Listen, Yvonne, I'm not agreeing to a divorce.
"Don't even think about it. Is this because I donated a kidney to Iris? Why are you so petty? That's a human life."
I paused and couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, that's a human life. So my life doesn't matter? And Jasper's future doesn't count?"
Clayton hesitated.
I pressed. "Clayton, did you ever stop to think what would happen to Jasper and me if something went wrong in surgery and you died on the table?
"Did you ever consider that, after giving up half your kidney, if your health collapsed, who would keep this family going?
"You didn't. All you ever cared about was Iris and your so-called 'heroic bond."
My voice was calm, but every word hit him like a punch to the gut.
On the other end, Clayton's breathing got rough.
"The surgery went great. I'm totally fine," he shot back, stubborn as ever.
I sneered, "Oh, really? Can you even get out of bed right now? Can you actually step up and handle your family like a normal guy?
"Clayton, stop fooling yourself. You're stuck in that hospital bed, can't even take care of yourself, and you still want to talk about the future?"
I sealed up the last box and got to my feet. "I'm exhausted, Clayton. I'm not sticking around for your whole soulmate act anymore. I'm done with this house and these eight years of marriage."
Clayton was so furious that he could barely get a word out, gasping for air.
Clayton sneered, using his favorite tactic to undermine me and shatter my confidence, "Yvonne, don't you dare regret this.
"You really think you can make it on your own without me? You're a housewife. You have no job and no income. How are you supposed to support yourself and Jasper?"
That was the trick he and Sylvia had used for years.
Unfortunately for them, I was already immune to their poison.
"You don't need to worry about that." I walked over to the window and looked down.
A brand-new moving truck was slowly rolling into the neighborhood.
A chilly smirk crossed my face. "By the way, I almost forgot to mention.
"I sold the car. The money paid for my lawyer's fees, the security deposit on my new apartment, and the moving expenses."
"What? You had the nerve to sell my car?" Clayton's voice went through the roof, nearly splitting my eardrums.
"Your car?" I snorted. "Clayton, maybe you should think again. Whose name was actually on the registration when we bought it?"
There was a dead silence on the other end.
We bought the BMW three years ago.
Back then, Clayton's company was finally starting to look successful. He paid cash for the car, partly to keep up appearances, partly as a reward for having Jasper.
When it came time to register it, he said he already had an old car in his name, so to make things easier, he registered the new one under mine.
He probably never imagined that a lazy decision like that would become my first tool for fighting back.
"Yvonne, did you have this all planned from the start?" There was finally a hint of fear and disbelief in Clayton's voice.
He finally realized the obedient wife he once knew was gone.
She'd become someone he barely recognized, someone who actually scared him.
"Yeah," I said, not bothering to hide it. "Ever since you decided to get tested for the kidney, I started making plans.
"Clayton, you owe me, and this is the start of payback."
I hung up and blocked his number.
Finally, the world fell silent.
I looked at the house that once held all my youth and dreams, and I didn't feel a trace of nostalgia.
Goodbye to my stupid past. Hello, new me.