He Asked Me To Wait, I Asked For A Divorce Chapter 01

On the second day of our marriage, my Navy husband told me he was leaving for a long-term assignment on Diego Garcia.

Captain Thomas Hale handed Gavin Mercer his orders with obvious approval, then turned to me with a serious look.

“Claire, are you willing to hold down the fort for Gavin while he’s gone?”

I didn’t hesitate for even half a second. “No.”

“He can take the assignment. He signs the divorce papers first.”

…

The room in the Navy housing unit went dead silent.

Gavin stood there with service ribbons on his uniform and a navy-blue sea bag slung over one shoulder, his smile frozen halfway across his face.

Captain Hale still held the orders in one hand, his gaze moving between Gavin and me.

“Claire, that’s not something you say just because you’re angry.”

I lowered my eyes to my hands.

They were still pale and slender, the knuckles smooth and neat.

No hard calluses from years of cooking and cleaning.

No fine cracks and scars left by salt wind.

No lingering smell from spending day and night caring for someone who couldn’t care for themselves.

In my last life, Gavin left that day and stayed away for more than thirty years.

I kept his family home running, cared for his parents after strokes left them disabled, worked odd jobs to help cover expenses, and ruined my health doing it.

But once Gavin secured his place in the Navy, he married a senior officer’s daughter and told anyone who would listen that I’d been unfaithful back home.

He claimed I’d gotten involved with a distant cousin of his, and eventually he stopped mentioning me at all, as if I had never existed.

More than thirty years later, when he finally returned in triumph, his wife had her arm linked through his while their daughter held a mask over her face and looked around my run-down apartment in disgust.

“Dad, this is the ex-wife you said slept around?”

The shock hit my heart so hard I collapsed on the spot, blood rising hot in my throat.

When I opened my eyes again, somehow I was back on the exact day Gavin was leaving for Diego Garcia.

I looked up at Captain Hale.

“Captain, I’m not saying this because I’m angry.”

“Gavin has orders. Serving is his job, and I’m not stopping him.”

“But I’m not spending my life keeping his home together, and I’m not becoming his parents’ unpaid caregiver.”

Denise Mercer, who had been sitting off to the side, exploded.

“Excuse me? You married into this family. That makes you family!”

I turned to look at her.

In my last life, she had spent seventeen years bedridden. I bathed her, fed her, changed her pads, cleaned up every mess, and never once complained.

Before she died, she gripped my hand and promised Gavin would remember everything I’d done for him.

He didn’t. All Gavin cared about was erasing me from his life as completely as possible.

My voice stayed even. “I married your son. I didn’t sign myself over to his family.”

Richard Mercer set his metal travel mug down hard on the coffee table.

“You have no idea how the Navy works. This Diego Garcia billet could make Gavin’s career.”

“You stay here, support him, and you’ll benefit from it later.”

A faint smile tugged at my mouth.

“His career is his problem. I’m done paying for it.”

Gavin’s expression darkened instantly.

“Claire, are you finished?”

“I’m leaving for my assignment today. My commanding officer and half my unit are here. Do you really have to humiliate me in front of everyone?”

I pulled our marriage certificate from my bag and slapped it onto the coffee table.

“You’re the one who should be embarrassed.”

A muscle jumped between his brows.

I spoke calmly.

“Last night, you told me not to video-call you all the time once you got there because you didn’t want the guys laughing at you for marrying some girl from the wrong side of town.”

Low murmurs rose near the doorway.

Gavin crossed the room in two strides and lowered his voice. “What the hell are you talking about?”

I stepped back before he could get too close.

“You also said that once you got established there, if you met someone who could help your career, I needed to ‘be reasonable’ and not use a marriage certificate to hold you back.”

Gavin reached for my face, trying to cover my mouth.

Captain Hale slammed a hand against the table.

“Mercer! Keep your hands to yourself and speak like an officer.”

Gavin froze. Something cold and vicious flashed through his eyes.

I knew that look too well. In my last life, he looked at me that way every time he thought I was in his way, like I was a piece of useless baggage he couldn’t get rid of.

Denise rushed over and grabbed my arm.

“Claire, honey, I know you’re hurt.”

“But Gavin is serving his country. You can’t sabotage his career because you’re upset.”

I yanked my arm free.

“I’m not sabotaging anything.”

I pushed the marriage certificate toward Captain Hale.

“If he expects me to stay behind and take care of everything, fine. We put it in writing first: how much he sends every month, who pays his parents’ medical bills, and what I’m paid for every day I spend caregiving.”