Second Light

Eric Johnson came home really late. Instead of his usual stop at the master bedroom to chat with Yvonne Johnson, he headed straight to my room.

I was already in my pajamas, about to hit the hay, when he softly pulled me out from under my cozy blanket.

He gave me a small box.

"Wendy, I know you've been eyeing this diamond necklace for ages, so I picked it up for you today."

I looked at the shiny necklace in my hands and felt a sad chuckle bubble up inside. It was not the one I liked. The one Yvonne had on that afternoon — that was the real stunner.

Yvonne had waltzed in earlier, all smiles, showing off her new bling to me.

"Pretty, right? Eric got it for me. However, don't get green with envy — I snagged an extra with points, and he'll get you one too."

Eric noticed I was not thrilled with the necklace and his forehead wrinkled with concern.

"What's the matter? Isn't this your favorite? I haven't given you much over the years, so why aren't you happy when I finally do?"

I sighed, a wry smile on my lips. "So you do know that you haven't given me much."

He stopped short, then stood up, clearly annoyed, and started to shrug off his suit jacket.

"I give you plenty of spending money every month. You can buy whatever you fancy. Why bother with gifts?

"If you don't like it, just toss it," he said.

"Okay," I replied, my voice even. With that, I chucked the necklace and its box into the trash can.

His face turned red with rage.

"What's that supposed to mean? Have I been too soft on you all these years?"

I kept my smile gentle, watching him simmer down without saying a word.

It did not take long before he calmed himself and pulled out some papers from his briefcase to show me.

His voice was gentle as he said, "These are divorce papers. Don't get it wrong, you know Yvonne married a foreigner and got a foreign citizenship. Now she wants to become a citizen of her own country again, and she can only do that by marrying someone from there. I'm just helping her out.”

"After we sort this out, I'll divorce her and we'll get remarried."

I knew there had to be a catch. He would not offer help without wanting something in return.

In my previous life, he had held me under the water in the bathtub. I could still feel that scary, choking sensation.

Divorce? That was exactly what I wanted. I could not wait to vanish from his life.

When I quickly reached for the pen to sign, he grabbed my hand in surprise.

"Aren't you going to read it first? I left the part about dividing our stuff blank. You can write whatever you want."

I flipped to that page and wrote just four words: I'm leaving with nothing.

He stared at me, shocked. "You really don't want anything?"

I had been with him long enough to know why he was doing that. He felt guilty and thought money would make up for it. That way, if I ever asked to get back together, he could say no without feeling bad.

However, I truly did not want anything. I had fallen for him when he had nothing, and now when I was going to leave, I did not want to take anything. I did not want any ties to him. I just wanted him gone from my life for good.