Semua Bab A Wool Sweater Showed Me His Affair: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Darlene's POVThe next morning, I called Lena Sweeney. She was my college roommate and currently specialized in family law at a firm."Lena, can you help me draft a divorce agreement?"There were three seconds of silence on the other end."...Are you serious?""Yes.""Did Bernard cheat on you?""Not yet." I paused. "But he's about to."She didn't press further and only said she'd email me the draft that afternoon.After hanging up, I sat on the balcony and stared into space for a while.At noon, Bernard texted to say a meeting had come up last minute and told me to grab lunch without him.I heated up yesterday's leftovers and sat alone at the dining table. Halfway through the meal, my phone buzzed again.It was a WhatsApp message from a number I hadn't saved."Hi, Mrs. Hoffman. Tammy here. I'm so sorry for intruding like that yesterday. Mr. Hoffman is seriously so great. No wonder he managed to marry such a beautiful wife as you. I'll treat you both to dinner next time to

Darlene's POVI ate breakfast alone and sat in the living room, waiting.At noon, I sent Bernard a message."Are you still coming back for lunch?"He left me on read.At 2:00 pm, I called him.It rang four times before he picked up, but something was off about the sound on his end. There was noise in the background."Hold on." His voice came through, followed by the muffled sound of a hand covering the receiver.I heard him say to someone else, "Stop crying first. I'll help you look over the contract. A landlord can't unilaterally break the lease like this."Then, he said into the phone, "Hello? What is it?"I didn't say anything right away."Hello?" he asked again, impatience creeping in."It's nothing. I'm just checking up on you," I said."I'm a bit busy right now. We'll talk tonight when I get back."With that, he hung up abruptly.I placed my phone face down on the coffee table.He was helping Tammy deal with her landlord breaking the lease.It was our fifth weddi

Darlene's POVI didn't delete the scheduled message Bernard sent me. It wasn't because I couldn't bear to part with it, but because I was saving it for later.Bernard came by for the first time on the third day after I left.When the doorbell rang at Lena's place, I was in the guest room folding clothes.She went to answer it.From inside, I heard Bernard asking, "Lena, is Darlene here?""I can't say.""I just want to say a few words to her.""She doesn't want to see you."There was a brief silence."Can we just not go down the divorce route right away? I—"Lena cut him off calmly. "Bernard, what exactly did you come here to explain today?"He didn't answer right away."Did you come to explain why you didn't go to the play that day? Or why you didn't pick up when Darlene called you on your anniversary? Or how you spent the whole afternoon helping Tammy negotiate with her landlord, and then thought picking up some takeout was apology enough?" Lena asked.There was a longer

Darlene's POVBernard didn't sign the divorce agreement on the spot, but I didn't push him either.I left the file folder on the table and paid for the coffee. Then, I said, "Let me know once you've thought it over," and walked away.I didn't hear him call after me. Or perhaps he did, but I didn't look back.During this time, Tammy fell into a state I hadn't anticipated.She started seeking Bernard out constantly—not for work-related matters, but for all kinds of reasons.She needed advice on a proposal, ordered takeout while working late and grabbed a portion for him, said she didn't have an umbrella on a rainy day and asked if he could give her a ride.However, Bernard turned her down every single time.I found out about it through Lena's messages and later pieced it together from the ones Tammy had sent me.She had been messaging me more and more frequently. At first it was out of concern, but later it turned into probing."Mrs. Hoffman, what's the situation between you an

Darlene's POVI learned what happened afterward bit by bit from Lena, though I also came to know some of it on my own.Bernard took two weeks of leave. But he didn't go anywhere. Instead, he just stayed at home.People in his department said that when he came back to work, he was like a different person.Before, he was the kind of man who would stand up in a meeting room and lay out a proposal with clarity and conviction. Now, he still laid things out, but sometimes he would pause mid-sentence, as if his mind had wandered somewhere else, then quickly pick back up again.He didn't make any mistakes, but something was off about him.Tammy went to see him.I didn't know what she said, nor did I know how Bernard responded. But in the end, she was transferred out of the project team. It wasn't a termination, but a lateral move to another department, one that put her farther away from him.After that, the tone of the messages she sent me began to change. Instead of warmth and conce