All Chapters of A Wool Sweater Showed Me His Affair: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Darlene's POV"What are you thinking about?"Bernard's voice drifted out from the bathroom, carrying the damp warmth of a fresh shower.I quickly withdrew my hand and stood up, forcing a smile."Nothing. I'm just helping you unpack."He came out wrapped in a bathrobe, towel-drying his hair. He casually took the suitcase from me, pulling it over to the corner."Leave it. I'll sort it out myself later."His tone was gentle, no different from usual.Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and answered it."Yeah, I've arrived. Alright, send me that proposal tomorrow morning," he said, his tone all business.After he hung up, I asked casually, "Who was that?""The new assistant from the project team. She doesn't really know anything, so she keeps asking questions all day long."There was a hint of helpless amusement in his voice.I didn't press further, changing the subject."By the way, you still remember about tomorrow evening, right? You promised to go with me t

Chapter 2

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

Chapter 3

Darlene's POVOn Wednesday morning, Bernard was shaving in the bathroom while I was setting the table for breakfast."Can you come home early tonight?" I asked, pouring him a bowl of cereal."I'll try, but things have been really tight with the project lately.""Next Tuesday is our wedding anniversary. You remember, right?"He paused in the middle of taking a sip of his coffee."Next Tuesday?""Yeah, it'll be our fifth anniversary."He looked up at me, and for a split second, there was blankness in his eyes. But then, he quickly smiled."Of course I remember. I'll take the day off and spend the whole day with you."When he said "of course I remember", he enunciated the words too heavily—so heavily that it felt like he was covering up that split second of guilt.When he proposed five years ago, he had said, "I'll remember every anniversary until the day dementia takes my memory away."Now I even had to remind him about our fifth anniversary. It seemed dementia had come early

Chapter 4

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

Chapter 5

Darlene's POVAt 11:00 pm, I was sitting in Lena's living room, holding a cup of hot tea.She didn't ask too many questions. Instead, she just led me in and made up the bed in the guest room for me before taking a seat across from me."Did you leave the divorce agreement for Bernard?""Yup.""He should have seen it when he got back.""Yeah."She looked at me for a while. She didn't say "You need to think this through" or "Maybe you should wait a little longer".All she did was nudge the teacup a little closer to me."Get some sleep."I nodded.My phone buzzed three times in my bag.The first and second times were calls from Bernard.The third was a WhatsApp message, asking, "Where are you?"I only took a glance, then locked the screen and flipped the phone face down on the coffee table.Lena gave me the side-eye but didn't say anything.Outside the window, the wind rustled the trees along the roadside, making a soft rushing sound.I leaned back against the sofa and tho

Chapter 6

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

Chapter 7

Darlene's POVOn the third day of Bernard's leave, Tammy showed up at the apartment.She told me about it herself later, in a very long WhatsApp message.Although I didn't read it closely, I got the gist of what had happened.She said she had gone to check on Bernard because he looked haggard, and it wasn't good for him to be alone at home. So, she thought she would help out.At the end, she asked me, "Mrs. Hoffman, are you two really getting divorced?"After reading the message, I put my phone down and went to pour myself a glass of water.Only after I'd finished drinking did I reply, "Tammy, you don't need to call me Mrs. Hoffman anymore."It was a long time before she responded, "I understand."Lena later told me what had happened over those few days.Bernard had gone back to the office, but he wasn't himself. He spaced out during meetings, revised proposals over and over, and scrapped two already-completed drafts in a row.People in his department whispered that he had b

Chapter 8

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

Chapter 9

Darlene's POVOn the day the divorce procedures were finalized, Lena went with me to the courthouse.The clerk at the window pushed the two documents across the counter, her tone perfectly ordinary."Each of you keep one. Next."After tucking that thin piece of paper into my bag, I stood up and walked out of the hall with Lena.Outside, it was an ordinary workday morning with not many people around. An elderly person was pushing a stroller, and a delivery guy was biking past. Everything was perfectly normal."Do you want to grab a bite?" "Sure.""What do you feel like eating?"I thought for a moment. "Buffalo wings."She laughed. "Alright. I know a place that makes really spicy buffalo wings."Lena's assistant, Alison Holt, took over the rest of the paperwork with Bernard. He cooperated fully the whole way through. He didn't drag his feet, nor did he reach out to me again.Only once, Alison told me that when Bernard was confirming the final document, he had paused over it

Chapter 10

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

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