She Called It Gaming, I Called It Cheating

My birthday party ended without its supposed hostess, and I hurried back home.

I wasn't surprised to find my wife, Nova Quill, sprawled on the couch in a new black slip dress, drenched in sweat. She'd obviously just gone through an intense boss fight in the game.

The first thing out of her mouth when she saw me wasn't an apology for missing the party, but a rave review of the game.

"Honey, the game Luke developed is really amazing. Why don't you put in more money so he can add new features?"

I set the divorce papers I'd prepared down on the coffee table. "Nova, I want a divorce."

Nova stared at me in shock. After a moment, she calmed down, her sweat-slicked body shifting as she tried to cling to me. "Honey, are you mad because I've been holed up in the game room and ignoring you? But I've been helping you test the project your company invested in. Shouldn't you be happy that the game's this good?"

I stepped back so I wouldn't have to touch her filthy body. I said icily, "Sign the papers."

Seeing how serious I was, she dropped the act and snapped, her temper flaring. "What the hell do you mean by this, Landon? You're divorcing me just because I've been playing the game you invested in? I lost track of time because I was checking whether your investment was actually fun. It's not like I did it on purpose.

"And I'm not doing this just for myself, you know. You can't handle horror games, so I stepped in to make sure the quality meets the mark for you."

I looked Nova up and down. The black, sexy slip dress she was wearing had just arrived by courier yesterday; I was the one who signed for it and washed it.

I thought she'd remembered it was my birthday and that she'd bought it as a surprise for me. Instead, first thing this morning, without even saying anything to me, she'd rushed to put on the dress and lock herself in the game room.

She needed to wear headphones for this fully immersive horror game, so no matter how many times I called her, she hadn't responded at all.

It was only after my birthday party ended that she and Luke Shore claimed they were tied up with a boss battle and couldn't make it.

On my birthday, my wife and another man had spent the entire day inside that game. The guests kept saying how much they were looking forward to seeing the game I'd invested in hit the market, but the way they looked at me was full of sympathy.

If a guy's wife couldn't even be bothered to show up at his birthday party, it said everything about where he stood in her heart.

I didn't think there was any point in continuing a life like this.

"Since you're so in love with that game, Nova, I'll grant your wish and let you spend your life with it instead of with me," I said.