He Played at Divorce Until I Made It Real
My husband had a bizarre obsession with role-playing. In every scenario he invented, I was always the devoted wife he eventually cast aside.
One day, he became the ruthless CEO who fell for the nanny; the next, he turned into a respected professor who could not resist his students. Each time he handed me a divorce agreement, watched me sign it through tears, and then tore the papers to shreds the following morning with a satisfied grin. "It's just a game, babe."
That changed when my mom was in a catastrophic car accident and needed 200,000 dollars for emergency surgery.
Deep in character as a penniless failure, he said, "I'm flat broke. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money for your mom?"
I watched my mother take her last breath because we couldn't pay the bill.
On the day of her funeral, he arrived with a pretty college student on his arm. "I've fallen in love with one of my students. It's time we get divorced."
He pulled a folder from his briefcase and handed me the agreement.
This time, I didn't wait for him to rip it up.