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Chapter 3

Tessa Ford

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“Lying to you for weeks? What are you talking about?” I asked, genuinely confused. I stared at him in anticipation, waiting to hear what he was about to say.

Grayson scoffed. “You really want to act like you don’t know what I’m talking about?” He asked, his brows furrowed.

I nodded. “Yes, if I have been lying to you for weeks, why didn’t you confront me about it? We always talk about our issues.”

Now I understand why he has been acting weird, but I couldn’t recall lying to my husband about anything.

He stood up from the bed and shook his head in disappointment. “We shouldn’t be having those kinds of issues in the first place.” He said, his voice stiff and cold.

“What issues, Grayson? What are you talking about?”

“Tessa, I’m not in the mood for all of this, I had a long night and I would love to rest.” He said, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

But I wasn’t going to let that happen.

There was a problem and we needed to talk about it like the adults we were. I couldn’t continue to live like that without any reasonable explanation.

“Grayson! You’re not going to act like you didn’t just accuse me of something.” I snapped, unable to mask the anger in my voice. “Talk to me, what did I lie about?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “You know what you did, Tessa. It’s even more disrespectful for you to pretend like you don’t know and ask me for an explanation.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

But I already knew what was happening.

Grayson didn’t have anything on me, he was just making it up. It was just a failed attempt to justify his actions.

He just wanted to make me look like I was also a perpetrator. Who knows how long he had been going out with Vanessa?

I choked down the lump that had formed in my throat.

Maybe the camera accidentally caught them last night. So he knew he had to come up with a bullshit excuse to defend what he did.

My chest tightened as I stared at him, trying to make sense of the man standing in front of me. The same man who once treated me like I was his entire world, now he couldn’t even hold my gaze.

“Grayson, do you think I’m stupid?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly. “You think I don’t know what is going on here?”

“What is going on here?” He asked, his voice cold. “What do you think is happening? Tell me about it.”

I forced my voice to stay steady even though I was on the verge of breaking down.

“Your ex-girlfriend is back in town, and you want to get back together with her. You’ve been acting really weird… probably trying to push me away so you can be with her in peace.”

He let out a dry chuckle and it made my skin crawl. But he didn’t respond, he just stared at me, his eyes filled with disdain.

“Now you’re coming up with some bullshit story about how I’ve been lying to you for weeks…but you can’t even tell me what I have been lying about,” I added, my voice thick with emotion.

“I don’t want to be with Vanessa.” Came his short and flaccid response.

“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “But you’ve been going out with her, probably for four weeks. Do you really want to throw everything we’ve built for the last three years down the drain?”

“I’m not throwing anything down the drain, Tessa. It’s all you.” He said firmly, pointing a finger at me.

Could he even hear himself?

Why was he accusing me without even saying the exact thing I did? Was I a child? Why was he treating me like I was some sort of unintelligent woman?

Why couldn’t he just get straight to the point?

A heart broke without a sound as I watched him act like I didn’t mean anything to him.

“How is it me? Can’t you just tell me what I did?” I demanded, frustration creeping into my voice. “Or is this just your subtle way of telling me that you’re done with the marriage?”

Grayson stared at me for a long second. “No, it’s not a subtle way.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

A low relieved sigh escaped my lips.

That meant he wasn’t giving up on our marriage. It was just a little misunderstanding that could be solved.

But before I could say another word, he added. “It’s a clear way of saying I’m done with the marriage.” He opened the drawer and brought out a brown envelope.

My heart skipped a beat.

For a moment, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. I couldn’t even blink as my eyes followed his every motion.

“What…what is that?” I whispered, my heart pounding. “Pl—please, don’t tell me that’s what I think it is.”

Grayson let out a low sigh. “I’ve already signed my part. You should do the same because I’m not interested in this thing anymore.”

Thing? Didn’t he just refer to our marriage as a thing?

I was dumbfounded for a few seconds.

“Divorce papers?” I finally muttered, my voice breaking. “You’re really giving me divorce papers?” I added, still trying to process what was happening.

He really wanted to end our marriage because of some baseless accusations. He went ahead to get divorce papers without even talking to me about it?

How did we get to this point?

How long had he even had the paperwork for?

What was really going on with him?

“Yes, this is clearly not working anymore. I just need you to sign your part so we can go our separate ways.” He replied without any trace of warmth in his voice.

“Grayson!” I exclaimed, looking at him with teary eyes. “I’m not going to sign these papers.”

He extended the envelope to me but I didn’t take it.

“Why?” He shot an irritated glance at me.

“I can’t just let you end our marriage…at least, you have to tell me what was going on.”

I knew that I sounded desperate. But I was still in love with him and couldn’t just destroy our marriage without knowing the root of the problem.

And I also needed to think about our daughter. She didn’t deserve to grow up in a broken home.

From the way Grayson stared at me, I could tell he was contemplating whether to walk away or finally tell me the truth. That was if there was even any truth.

“Please.” I cried, my eyes mirroring my desperation.

“Fine, I’ll tell you what the problem is.” He said, his voice tight. “You cheated on me, Tessa! That’s why I’m ending the marriage!”

For a brief second, I could see the hurt in his eyes.

But the pain in his eyes didn’t hurt as much as realizing that he actually believed the lie — the lie that I had cheated on him.