The Hundredth Tear: End of Our Marriage

I said nothing, merely wiping the blood away from my temple with the back of my hand.

I then turned to leave.

"Hendery! Are you trying to start another fight with me again?" Rosalind screamed hysterically behind me.

My brows twitched, and I turned around.

Rosalind was glaring at me, her eyes wide with fury. In her hand was the brand-new marriage certificate I'd just replaced.

In my heart, I silently counted. This was the 100th time.

This time, I no longer panicked, nor did I rush forward to stop Rosalind. I just stood there, indifferent as I waited for her to repeat the same old trick.

She froze, clearly not expecting my calm reaction. Her hand that was holding the marriage certificate was suspended midair as she stared at me in disbelief. "You… Why aren't you stopping me?"

I spoke flatly, "Go ahead and tear it if you want. I'm not replacing it again. If you want to make our future divorce a hassle, be my guest."

A crack appeared on Rosalind's face. "Hendery, you're really going to divorce me over something this small?"

She then tossed the marriage certificate aside and stormed toward me. She didn't tear it apart this time.

Only then did it hit me that all of her outbursts and unreasonable actions were nothing more than her testing my bottom line.

Before, I was afraid of losing Rosalind. So, I indulged her again and again, coaxing her and giving in until my dignity lay shattered on the floor.

Now that I no longer cared, she stopped acting up.

I looked at Rosalind calmly. "Let's spend a few days apart from each other to cool off."

I then turned around and left without looking back.

Behind me, Rosalind screamed, "You're really doing this over something so petty? I swear you'll regret it, Hendery!"

Even though it felt like a piece of my heart had been carved out alive, I kept walking.

I knew that if I turned back now and compromised again, the same cycle would repeat again. I would continue to spend endless money on Rosalind and make countless trips to the city hall to replace torn certificates.

I was truly exhausted.

…

Lately, I have been spending my nights in the office. Even my employees started noticing something was off with me.

The atmosphere at the company grew heavy and strained all of a sudden.

To keep everyone from feeling on edge, I organized a company retreat at a hot springs resort in the suburbs.

Seeing everyone's faces light up lifted my mood a little.

It turned out that people really did appreciate it when money was spent in the right place.

I was sitting off to the side, sipping calming tea, when a shadow suddenly fell over me. I looked up and saw Jackson studying me with a relaxed stance.

He said, "Hendery? What a coincidence. You're here for the hot springs, too?"

Before I could respond, Jackson sat down beside me and casually poured himself a cup of the expensive tea I'd bought for myself.

As he lifted his hand, I caught sight of the limited-edition watch on his wrist.

I recognized the watch instantly. I'd seen that watch tucked away in a corner when I'd been cleaning the house before.

My birthday was around the corner then. So, I'd naturally assumed Rosalind was planning a surprise for me.

I had always been frugal with myself, and I was always reluctant to buy things I liked. So I'd let myself get excited over her surprise.

But on my birthday, all I got was a small cake with a missing corner.

Rosalind casually said, "Oh, Jackson stopped by earlier. He got hungry and took a bite. You don't mind, do you?"

It left a bad taste in my mouth.

I didn't make a scene, but I never touched the cake.

It turned out the gift I thought was meant for me had already been worn by someone else.