Perfect Until I Disappeared

At one in the morning, Gloria dragged me out of a dead sleep.

She stormed into the bedroom and yanked me out of bed.

Still half asleep, I rubbed my eyes and forced myself awake.

"Weren't you staying with Mr. Keane?"

The anger on her face only got worse.

"I thought you'd really changed. Turns out you're still the same. Jealous, petty, and willing to pull any dirty trick."

The disgust in her voice wasn't even hidden.

My chest tightened with hurt and guilt.

Why couldn't I ever make her happy, no matter what I did?

I reached for her hand. "What happened?"

"You seriously have the nerve to ask?"

Gloria shoved me away.

My forehead slammed into the corner of the bed. Pain shot through me, making my eyes water.

I pushed through it and looked up at her. "I really don't know."

"Still pretending?"

Gloria slammed a bottle of cologne onto the floor.

Glass shattered everywhere. The strong scent instantly filled the room, making me cough.

"You knew Damian was allergic to this brand, and you still gave it to him as a gift. What the hell were you trying to do?"

My mind went blank.

I stared at the broken glass on the floor.

I never gave Damian cologne.

I never even bought any.

Gloria knew I was mildly allergic to cologne too.

If she'd stopped and thought about it for even a second, she would've known I wasn't the one who sent it.

But this involved Damian.

When you care too much, logic goes out the window.

As a perfect partner, I couldn't expect Gloria to stay rational all the time.

Especially when it came to the man she loved.

So I didn't explain.

A husband who makes her happy doesn't argue. Doesn't push back.

I lowered my eyes and quietly got out of bed, stepping onto the broken glass scattered across the floor.

I ignored the blood dripping from my feet, staining the carpet red.

"Gloria..."

Her eyes widened.

She shoved me back onto the bed.

"Are you insane?"

I froze.

Why did her voice sound like it was shaking?

I reached for her hand again.

"Gloria, I'm sorry. I'll go apologize to Mr. Keane. Don't be mad, okay?"

But the "okay" I was waiting for never came.

Gloria suddenly went still.

She stayed quiet for a long time before finally looking up at me.

Confusion filled her eyes.

Confusion, uncertainty... and then slowly, panic.

She couldn't understand why I wasn't arguing anymore. Why I wasn't making a scene. Why I'd suddenly become so easygoing it felt wrong.

She just stared at me in silence, but the panic in her eyes only grew.

Like she was about to lose something she couldn't afford to lose.

I couldn't understand what she was thinking.

Even the Perfect Partner Program couldn't tell me what to do.

I could only look back at her, tears slowly filling my eyes.

What did I have to do to make her happy?

In my panic, my hand brushed against the divorce papers under the pillow.

Then it hit me.

That had to be it.

I still hadn't brought up divorce.

I still hadn't given Gloria and the man she loved what they wanted.

As long as I handed her the divorce papers, she'd be happy.

Then I'd finally satisfy her.

I'd be the perfect husband. The husband she actually wanted.

So I pulled out the divorce agreement I'd prepared earlier.

Under Gloria's increasingly shaken stare, I handed it to her.

"I get it now." I looked at her and smiled. "I'll let you go. So..."

"Let's get divorced."