My Husband Acted Single Before Clients, So I Produced Divorce Papers Chapter 05

My Husband Acted Single Before Clients, So I Produced Divorce Papers Chapter 05

By the time the car pulled up outside the Mercers‘ home, it was already dark.

She hurried to let rne in as soon as she saw me.

“Elise, come in.”

She stepped aside with a smile.

“Didn’t Julian say he wouldn’t be back until later tonight?”

“That’s fine. I’m not here to wait for him.”

Mrs. Mercer poured me a glass of water and sat across from me, still smiling.

I thought about the surgery she’d had not long ago.

I arranged for a private aide to stay with her during the day, then came to the hospital every night

after work.

She spent a month in the hospital.

During that time, I lost about thirteen pounds.

Back then, she had held my hand and cried, telling me I treated her better than her own son did.

Looking back on it now, the whole thing felt like a joke.

I paused before speaking.

“Mom, there’s something I came here to ask you in person.”

“What is it? Why so serious?”

Still smiling, she picked up an apple and pressed it into my hand.

“How long have you known Julian was seeing someone else?”

Her smile froze.

The glass she had just picked up wobbled in her hand, splashing a few drops onto the coffee table. She immediately reached down to wipe them away.

“Seeing someone else? Elise, who’s been feeding you that nonsense?”

I said nothing.

I just looked at her.

“Didn’t Sabrina say yesterday that she was coming to see you?”

My stare made her visibly nervous, and her explanation came out in a rush.

“Sabrina? No, I really didn’t know. I’ve only met her once. Julian said she was someone he knew from college. I did wonder why he’d suddenly brought her over for dinner, but I thought she was just a college acquaintance.”

“He brought her here for dinner?”

My voice came out so quietly it barely sounded like my own.

Mrs. Mercer clapped a hand over her mouth, as though she had only just realized what she had

admitted.

“Just once. I swear, it was only once. They were in the area and stopped by for dinner. She was sweet and friendly, so I didn’t think anything of it…”

I set the apple down on the coffee table.

“How many times have I called you, only for you to tell me Julian was too busy and you didn’t want to bother him?”

“Anything that went wrong around here–the plumbing, the water heater, a relative ending up in the hospital–you called me. Tell me honestly. In all the years I’ve been part of this family, when have I ever failed you?”

Mrs. Mercer burst into tears.

She got to her feet and reached for my hand.

“Elise, I’m sorry. I really am. I had no idea there was anything going on between him and that

woman…”

I stepped back before she could touch me.

“I’m not blaming you. I just can’t get over how unfair this is or make myself accept it.”

“He brings another woman home to meet you, and you don’t ask a single question. He tells you she’s just someone he knew from college, so you let her into your home–and afterward, you help

him keep the whole visit from me?”

Mrs. Mercer cried even harder.

I took out my phone and called Julian in front of her.

“Come to your mom’s.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“I was about to head home-”

“I’ve already told Mom about Sabrina. You have twenty minutes to get here. We’re going to talk through the divorce.”

The moment Mrs. Mercer heard the word divorce, her head snapped up.

“Elise, don’t do anything rash. Let Julian come back. I’ll make him apologize. I’ll make him end it with that woman!”

I ended the call and looked at her.

“Mom, there’s no need.”

“If a wife has to rely on her mother–in–law to make her husband come home, the marriage is already over.”

Mrs. Mercer opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

When Julian finally walked in, he brought the chill from outside with him.

He stopped in the entryway when he saw me on the sofa. His mother kept shooting him meaningful looks, but he stood there for a long moment before moving.

Eventually, he came over and sat across from me.

When he looked up, his eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion.

“Elise, I can explain.”

“You don’t have to.”

I took the contents of my bag out one by one and laid them on the coffee table.

Among them was a draft divorce agreement Rachel Nolan had just sent me.

“Julian, do you know what it felt like last night, sitting there while Sabrina talked about all those sweet memories the two of you shared?”

grandmother was in the ICU. I couldn’t leave her. You knew how important that pitch was to me, and I called you over and over in tears.”

“And you told me rules were rules. So where were those rules when you changed Sabrina’s

presentation slot for her?”

Julian went completely still.

All the color drained from his face.

Mrs. Mercer stared at him in shock.

“You did that too?”

Julian opened his mouth, but I cut him off.

“Stop lying. I only need one answer from you. Does Sabrina know you’re married?”

He lowered his head.

A long silence passed.

Then he shook his head.

“No.”

“Okay.”

My voice was quiet.

“So you kept both sides in the dark, Julian. You even lied to your own mother just to keep Sabrina happy. You told Sabrina she was meeting your family, while you told your mother she was just someone you knew from college who happened to stop by for dinner.”

“You disgust me.”

I stood and pushed the divorce agreement across the table.

“Sign it.”

Julian looked up at me.

His eyes had gone red.

Mrs. Mercer stood too and grabbed my wrist, her hand trembling with the force of her grip.

“Elise, yell at him, hit him, whatever you need to do. Just don’t divorce him. I really do care about

you…”

I kept my back to them.

My voice was soft, but every word was clear.

“It’s not that you value me, Mom. You just can’t do without a daughter–in–law who comes whenever you call and never causes trouble.”

I pulled my hand free, picked up my bag, and headed for the door.

When I opened it, a damp wind swept inside, heavy with coming rain.

Yet as I walked away, my steps felt strangely light.