All Chapters of My Wife's Lover Asked Me for a Bonus: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Allyson pondered for a moment, then said, "Since you already know about Joe and me, let's just have him spend Christmas with us this year."She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.I froze inside. It was hard to believe this was the woman I'd loved for fifteen years. How much further did she think she could push this?My silence, in her eyes, only read as generosity and understanding.Allyson reached up gently, the way she used to, wanting to cup my face and kiss me like nothing had changed.I stepped back before she could, my eyes stinging. Swallowing the bitterness rising in my throat, I said, "Do whatever you want. I've got an experiment to run over the holidays."From then on, neither she nor our son would ever appear in my life again during Christmas.On the surface, I looked calm and composed. Underneath, my heart had already shattered into pieces too small to put back together.I turned and started up the stairs. Behind me, Allyson's voice took on a b

Chapter 2

Allyson carried on openly flirting with Joe right in our home.Every word cut me to the bone, but my face didn't betray a flicker of emotion. Only my trembling hands, my throat closing up, and the wave of nausea rolling through my stomach told me I was enduring something inhumane.My lawyer wrote back. [I need seven business days. Please give me a little time.]Seven days. On an ordinary day, buried in the lab, they would have flown by. Now, every day dragged like a year.I looked down at my hands, permanently bleached pale from years in the lab, and thought about how my eyesight had gone from perfect to severely nearsighted from all that strain, about the faint ringing that never quite left my ears anymore.Every ounce of effort I'd poured, bled, and sacrificed for suddenly felt like a joke.I remembered ten years ago, when the Fowler family had been on the verge of bankruptcy. Allyson hadn't had the money to buy the patents she needed, no way to manufacture the drugs, and the s

Chapter 3

Allyson stepped between Francis and me to smooth things over."Francis doesn't feel well today. Don't make it harder on him."She reached out, wrapped an arm around my back, and started steering me toward the door."Go on, go back to your experiment. Joe's here to look after him, don't worry."Nausea rolled through my stomach. I shoved her arm off, irritated."Don't touch me."She froze, clearly caught off guard that I'd actually raised my voice. I was even-tempered by nature. I almost never lost my temper.Francis was startled by my outburst and burst into tears.Joe soothed him with false concern. "Steve, you're scaring him. If you're upset, take it out on me instead. He's just a kid, he's innocent. Don't take it out on him, okay?"There was only one thought looping in my head as I watched Francis cry. I asked him, "Who's your dad?"I'd braced myself a hundred times over, telling myself that as long as he didn't call Joe "Dad," I could forgive him. I'd take him with me when

Chapter 4

Allyson brought Joe home just as I was about to head out.Seeing the look on my face, Joe put on a wounded, pitiful act. "Steve, you don't look happy. Maybe I shouldn't stay at the house."I kept my expression cold. "This is the Fowler house. Stay as long as you like. I won't interfere."With that, I quickened my pace toward the door.Allyson caught up and grabbed my wrist."You really don't mind? If it bothers you, Joe and I can stay somewhere else."I pulled my hand free. My heart had already gone cold and still, though my voice stayed calm."I just have some work to deal with. What you and Joe do is really none of my business."She let out a breath of relief, her tone gentler now."Okay. Go on and handle your work. Call me when you're done, and I'll come pick you up."She really did think of herself as some kind of master at balancing two men.I never went back to the Fowler house after I left that day.A few days before Christmas, Allyson's company held its annual holid

Chapter 5

Allyson's face drained of all color, and the hand holding the divorce papers trembled.Her knees buckled. She nearly lost her footing and fell.Her eyes went unfocused, her mind seeming to short-circuit entirely.The divorce agreement was dense with text, but she couldn't process a single word of it.Only those few characters, "Divorce Agreement," seemed to stab into her eyes like needles."It's not possible. Steve wouldn't give up on me."There was a soft clatter.The phone slipped from her hand and fell to the floor a few feet away, screen down, her assistant's voice still faintly audible through it."Ms. Fowler, are you there?"Joe, playing the understanding partner, steadied her by the arm.A flash of triumph crossed his eyes. He had no idea that my leaving would mean the collapse of Allyson's entire business empire."Allyson, Steve's probably just upset right now.""I think so too. He's probably just being overly sensitive. There's no way he'd actually be willing to di

Chapter 6

By then, I was alone in another city, spending Christmas by myself.Even so, alone or not, I'd made sure to put together a proper holiday dinner.I used to set out several forks and plates for the table. Now there was just the one set, mine alone.I'd left the TV on in the living room, just to bring a little life into the quiet house.This was my first Christmas spending it alone, and surprisingly, it didn't feel as painful as I'd expected. If anything, I felt calmer than I had in a long time.Today marked the start of a new life for me.Just as I was about to sit down to eat, there was a knock at the door.The only person who knew I lived here, besides my work partner, was nobody at all.I checked the video doorbell, and sure enough, there was Andrea Levine's face.The door opened.Andrea held up the food in her hands, a warm, familiar smile spreading across her face. "Happy holiday.""I passed a restaurant on the way and remembered you love roast chicken, so I picked some

Chapter 7

My voice turned colder."Allyson, Francis likes having Joe as his dad. I'll let him have that. Ever since he started calling Joe 'Dad,' he stopped being my weakness."You don't need to keep coming to me either. It's over between us, completely. I don't care if you don't agree to the divorce."I'll have my lawyer push it through the courts. This marriage is ending, one way or another."This is as far as we go. From here, it's nothing but distance between us."Allyson cut in, panicked, her voice thick with tears."Steve, I don't want a divorce. I can't lose you."I was wrong. I swear I'll never cheat again, okay? For the sake of everything we've been through, please, give me one last chance."Her voice turned humble, almost like it had fifteen years ago, when she'd blushed and asked me, so carefully."I like you. Would you give me a chance? Could we be together?"Fifteen years ago, I'd said yes with my whole heart. This time, I refused, completely and without reservation."A

Chapter 8

Allyson refused to agree to the divorce. Instead, she posted a lengthy public confession online.She admitted she'd been wrong, said she'd break things off with Joe, and tried to win back my forgiveness with what she called her sincerity.Online, everyone said she wasn't sorry; she was just scared.She was afraid of falling from the summit she'd worked so hard to climb.She was afraid of tumbling back down from the position everyone now admired her for, back to the broke, debt-ridden nobody she used to be.Joe panicked too.By then, he'd become the most hated man on the internet.Word was, when he tried to quietly flee the country to save himself, Erica came up with an idea of her own, thinking she was being clever."The patents are his, sure, but they were developed during the marriage. That makes them joint marital property. If we sue, we can get half of them back. With half the patents, the company won't go under."Joe bought into it, sensing a chance to profit. He slipped

Chapter 9

Half a year had passed, and even the deepest wounds had mostly scarred over by then.My heart was steady and still. I'd just opened my mouth to speak when Erica's voice cut me off first."Steve, it was never my intention for you two to split up either. Allyson just made the kind of mistake every woman in the world makes at some point."As long as she fixes it, isn't that enough? And if you insist on going through with the divorce, remember, everything you own, including your patents, counts as marital property from the marriage."Allyson has every right to claim half of it. And think carefully, if you go through with this divorce, Francis will resent you for the rest of his life."Nobody gets through life without swallowing some hardship. Can't you just give Allyson one more chance, for the sake of giving your son a whole family?"Erica nudged Francis with her elbow, signaling for him to talk me into staying.Francis obediently spoke up. "Dad, please don't be angry anymore. I do

Chapter 10

That was the last thing I ever said to Allyson.She tried to chase after me, unwilling to let it go, but my lawyer blocked her."Dad!"Through the commotion, I heard Francis's voice calling out to me. Something in my chest tightened, but I didn't turn around.Erica pointed at my back and shouted after me. "You heartless man! You won't even acknowledge your own son!"I still didn't turn around. Every step I took was steady and resolute.I handed the divorce proceedings against Allyson over to my lawyer to see through.After the divorce, the court took up the case. I went after Joe for the marital assets he owed, and pressed charges against him and Allyson both for bigamy.Word was, the night before the hearing, Joe tried to sneak away.Francis caught him in the middle of the night. He wrapped his arms around Joe's leg, begging him not to go."My dad doesn't want me anymore. Please don't leave me too."By then, Joe had stopped bothering to hide his resentment and took it out e

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