I was sho:cked that a woman followed closely behind him. She reached for his arm when he turned around to face her. She embraced him with a kiss on the lips. My heart sank, and the knots in my stomach finally unraveled because the root of unease looked me in the face.
The world seemed to shatter as I grappled with the reality unfolding before me. In an impulsive surge of adrenaline, I snapped some photos of them together, capturing the undeniable evidence of the moment my marriage ended.
I swiped through them on my phone, realizing that sitting in the car wouldn’t help me.
I walked up to the house, and Travis saw me first. He was too shocked to respond. He just stood there, watching me walk toward them.
“So, you’re the woman who left a message on my husband?” I asked.
But I was astonished that her reply wasn’t what I expected. Instead of cowering or denying any of it, she boldly asserted that I deserved better.
“Husbands like this deserve to be treated like spare change,” she said, glancing at Travis.
He, red-faced from anger and embarrassment, exclaimed, “How dare you?”
But it wasn’t important. The woman had already closed the door. I left Travis standing there and returned to my car, ignoring him. And when I got back to the car, there was a text from my Mom and the number for a divorce lawyer.
It was the heartbreaking Christmas present I gave myself, instead of the Christmas celebration I thought we would have. Instead, I face a new beginning — a New Year of rebuilding, rediscovery, and pursuing happiness on my terms.
Life is clearly unpredictable, that’s for sure — especially five years into a marriage.
If it were you, what would you have done?