I Wouldn't Choose You, Either

Before my voice faded away, my phone rang.

I looked at the phone screen. It was Samuel Gardner, my husband.

I rejected the call.

When I looked up, I found my face still on the screen.

I put on a perfect smile. “Samuel, I agree to the divorce. I’ll see you at the courthouse at 9 a.m. on Monday.”

Whispers rose all around me. Some of the friendlier people even approached me to comfort me.

A girl handed me a tissue and gave me a sympathetic look. “You shouldn’t feel sad over that piece of trash, girl.”

I thanked her and wiped away my tears. I also sang the song with the singer.

During that entire time, all I could think about was Samuel asking me for a divorce a few days ago.

It had happened during breakfast, and Samuel had looked at me coolly when he said, “Let’s get a divorce.”

I froze with a soft-boiled egg in my hand as I stared at him in surprise.

“What did you say?” I was wondering whether I was hearing things.

Ever since I agreed to Samuel’s proposal three years ago, we had lived a happy life together.

Even though he was still as aloof as ever and was only ever passionate in bed, we had no relationship troubles.

I just thought he was joking when he suddenly asked for a divorce.

But Samuel looked at me seriously. “Let’s get a divorce. I’m fed up with this life.”

When I did not answer, he chuckled bitterly.

Samuel stopped coming back home from that day on. Whenever I called him, he would say that he was out on a business trip.

Later, I found that the singer I had liked for more than a decade was organizing a concert in my city, so I sent him a text asking him to come with me.

He had said no again with the excuse that he was out on a business trip.

To think that he had actually come with someone else to the concert!

I knew the woman beside him. She was in his graduate class yearbook.

While he had taken pictures with other girls in the yearbook, he always had his lips pursed and looked very aloof in them.

It was why the picture with that woman was so different from the rest. Samuel smiled happily in that picture. It was the kind of smile he never showed me.

After seeing that woman, I finally realized that he was not always aloof. He could smile happily when he was with the person he loved.

After the concert, I saw a face I knew at the door.

It was Samuel, and he looked troubled after being caught red-handed.

I instinctively looked around, but I did not see that woman.

I did not intend to linger long and was about to leave, but Samuel grabbed my arm.

“Let’s talk.”

I did not turn around and only asked, “Is it because of her?”

Samuel did not say anything. Based on what I knew about him, his silence was basically a confirmation.

I sneered but did not ask any more questions. I yanked my arm back and left.

When I got home, I found Samuel sitting in the living room.

I was surprised to see him, since he had not been back for more than ten days.

I blurted out, “Don’t you need to send her back?”

Samuel scowled but did not answer.

It was only then that I realized how blunt my question had been, and I did not demand an answer.