Countdown to the End of Us

My wife and I were both liars. She lied to me 99 times. "I'll forget all about him, I swear." That man was her first love.

She never did forget about him.

I only lied to her one time. To get her to sign the divorce papers.

Time came to the final day of the cooling-off period.

Three hours before it was up, I packed up all my stuff and bought a flight ticket to another country.

Two hours before it was up, I cut up all my photos that had her in it, leaving only myself.

One hour before it was up, I placed the divorce papers on the table.

When she saw the papers, they drove her mad.

Cheating Wife

"Hi, are you the attorney? Yeah, I want to get a divorce."

Yes, I wanted to get a divorce, but I had to keep it a secret from my wife.

"Tell your wife to sign these. Once the month-long cooling-off period's over, the agreement goes into effect."

When I got home, my wife, Lauren Claude, was drunk. She was happy, see, since her true love got a divorce.

…

When she sobered up the next day, she said, "Let's get another wedding."

I knew she only wanted that to trick her true love into coming home. Still, I agreed to it with a smile, but within the wedding planning contract she signed was another agreement. The divorce papers.

"I thought the contract was supposed to be… less thick."

A frown creased her forehead. She flipped through the pages, but she never signed them.

The woman was a famous entrepreneur in Riverton. Cheap tricks would not work on her. The second last page was the divorce papers I snuck in.

I hung my head low, though I was not exactly nervous. "I think there's a ton of compensation clauses. You should go through them if you have time."

Yeah, I knew she would never have the time. It was the day her first love came home. Felix Grande was his name. Years ago, after he got engaged to another woman, Lauren married me in a fit of rage. Retaliation, so to speak.

Now that Felix had gotten divorced, she drank and drank until she could no longer remain sober. Once she sobered up, however, she wanted to get the wedding.

It was a trick to make Felix come home. My marriage was nothing but a toy in their relationship.

And I knew it. Lauren's impatience was oozing from her face. "I need to pick someone up. I don't have time for this."

A glint of delight sparkled in her eyes. She had nothing but impatience for me, yet she also had nothing but delight for Felix.

The woman signed the papers in a hurry and ran off. I did nothing but see her off.

She asked for the wedding three days ago. Five years we were married. There were no grand weddings, nor did we tell anyone. No one besides our friends and parents knew.

Even in articles, she was known as a single woman. Unmarried, at most. Even her scandals were all about the unrequited and hopeless love she had for Felix.

Our marriage was done in silence. I was beneath her. My name had no right to be put with hers. I knew that, of course.

I knew Lauren had someone she truly loved. Even her soul only had eyes for him. Yes, she did show me tender moments, but they were rarer than blue moons.

I tried to move her with love. I tried to make her get used to me, yet she never showed me a smile. Not in this household.

Until that day came. She never drank, yet she was drunk, and the smile refused to leave her face. So I snooped around. I wanted to know the happy occasion. Yep, Felix had gotten a divorce.

I took care of her late into the night, and then I unlocked her phone using Felix's birthday. It opened up for me. When I tapped into the gallery, I realized the photos had nearly taken up all the storage space. Photos of Felix. Only photos of Felix.

I was not there. Well, technically, I was. The gallery's cover was our wedding photo, but she Photoshopped my face into Felix's.

It was odd that she insisted on getting the wedding photo even when she refused to hold a wedding. That question had lingered in the back of my head forever. Now I got my answer.

It was time. The marriage had run its course.

The only thing left was the cooling-off period until the divorce came into effect.

T-minus, one month.

What a coincidence. The wedding she promised me would happen in one month.

…

T-minus, 22 days.

Lauren was leaving early and coming back late a lot more than usual. The promise of a wedding might as well have never existed.