Chapter 3

That evening, Neo came home.

I was in the kitchen, cooking dinner.

He walked in and asked, "What's for dinner tonight?"

"Pork stew, your favorite," I replied.

"Sounds good," he replied.

Then he went to the living room to watch TV.

I brought the food to the table and called Neo and Lucas for dinner.

We all gathered around the table.

Neo grabbed a piece of pork stew and took a bite.

"Tastes great," he said.

"Eat up, there's plenty," I replied.

I served him a bowl of soup.

He took it and had a couple of sips.

"How was work today?" I asked.

"Same old," he replied.

"Been traveling a lot lately?" I asked.

He glanced up at me and asked, "Why ask all of a sudden?"

"Just asking, no big deal. Lucas's school is having a parent-child event next month. Think you'll be able to go?" I said.

"We'll see when the time comes," he replied.

Then he lowered his head and kept eating.

I watched his face.

Neo was forty, his hair thinning, a bit of a belly showing, and fine lines etched at the corners of his eyes.

Not handsome, not ugly—just average.

Just a regular man—nothing special.

I'd been with him for ten years, had his child, and given up everything for him.

And yet, behind my back, he was out there with another woman, living a double life.

After dinner, Neo went to his study.

I cleaned up the dishes, bathed Lucas, and put him to bed.

It was another ordinary night.

At ten o'clock, I walked past the study and heard Neo talking on the phone.

His voice was quiet, but I caught a bit of it.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll go with you in a few days," he said.

His tone was soft, nothing like the half-hearted way he talked to me.

I lingered at the doorway, not going in.

I knew who he was talking to.

In that moment, I made up my mind. I was going to divorce him.

But not now.

First, I had to protect myself.

I was going to make sure I got everything I deserved.

Then, I'd leave gracefully, with my dignity intact.

For the next week, I didn't say a word.

Every day, I did the same old routine: grocery shopping, cooking, dropping Lucas off at school, and picking him up.

Neo went to work, pulled overtime, traveled for business, and went out for drinks with clients, just like always.

On the surface, everything looked the same as always.

But I was the only one who knew things had changed.

I started digging through our things at home: house deed, car registration, bank books, and insurance papers.

The house was bought after we got married, and it had both our names on the deed.

The car was registered under Neo's name.

There were three savings accounts, all under his name.

I had no idea how much money was in them.

The insurance beneficiary was his mom.

I'd been married to Neo for ten years.

I had his kid, handled all the chores, and even quit my job to look after Lucas.

Yet, nothing was under my name.

After ten years, what did I have to show for it?

I grabbed my phone, searched for a law firm, and booked a consultation.

At 2 PM on Wednesday, I dropped Lucas off at kindergarten and went to the law firm alone.

The lawyer who met me was Jack Lewis, in his thirties, who wore glasses and looked every bit the professional.

I laid out the whole situation for him.

After I finished, he asked, "Do you have any evidence?"

"I've got chat logs, money transfers, and hotel receipts," I replied.

"Did you save screenshots of everything?" he asked.

"Yeah, I saved them," I said.

"Does your husband know you found out?" he asked.

"No," I replied.

Jack nodded and said, "You did the right thing. Evidence is everything in cases like this."

He pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down some legal points for me.

He explained, "If you have hard evidence of cheating, you can push for your husband to get a smaller cut of the assets in the divorce. And when it comes to custody, courts usually side with the mom for kids under six."

I asked, "What if he refuses to get divorced?"

Jack said, "Most of the time, the court won't grant the divorce on the first try. But if you live apart for six months and file again, the second time, it's almost always approved."

I asked, "What if he tries to hide or move the assets?"

Jack replied, "You need to be proactive. Make sure you know exactly what joint assets you have, and if needed, you can ask the court to freeze them."

I nodded.

Jack added, "Since you're not working right now, you're in a tough spot financially. If you can, try to find a job. Having a steady income will make it easier to fight for custody."

"Okay, I understand," I said.

I walked out of the law firm into the bright sunlight.

I stood by the curb, taking a deep breath.

I'd been a stay-at-home mom for ten years.

It had been ten years since I'd last had a real job.

What could I even put on my resume?

I could cook, raise a kid, do the laundry, iron clothes, deal with mother-in-law drama, swallow my pride, bend over backwards for everyone, and always put myself last.

Can you even put any of that on a resume?

Of course not.

I got nothing to show for these ten years.

I had a college degree, but it'd been ten years since graduation.

I had a marketing background, but I hadn't worked in ten years.

All my friends were stay-at-home moms. Who was going to help me?

I was thirty-five now.

Thirty-five was where things got tricky in the job market.

When I got home, I fired up my computer.

I updated my resume.

Then I blasted my resume out to a bunch of companies.

I wondered if I would get any replies.