“Now that the baby’s born, you're suddenly disgusted by the stretch marks on Tia’s stomach? Upset about how her body’s changed? Is that why you want a divorce? You ungrateful piece of shit! Have you no shame?”

Eddie acted like a moral police and quickly labelled me the villain. The shouting came with fists right behind it, but before he could land a hit, I dodged easily.

I looked at him coldly, a smirk tugging at my lips. “Oh? And how would you know about the stretch marks on my wife’s stomach? Unless…”

Eddie’s face turned red. “It's just common sense, man! Ask anyone here then, who doesn’t know that pregnancy causes that?”

Everyone around us nodded, chiming in like a damn jury.

My father-in-law stepped in, trying to talk me down. “Chuck, marriage isn't something you throw away on a whim. My daughter almost lost her life giving birth to your child. This is the time that really tests a couple. You’ve always seemed like a decent man—don’t let us down now.”

My mother-in-law scoffed, arms crossed. “I knew it. Men—never any good. Now you bring up divorce? You must already have someone else out there, huh?”

“Spill it! Who’s the mistress? Is she pushing you for status, pressuring you to dump my daughter?!” She rolled up her sleeves like she was ready for a street fight.

She gave Tiana a pat on the back. “Don’t worry, Honey. Mom’s gonna take that homewrecker down.”

I gave a hollow laugh. “The problem was never with me. You can say whatever you want, but I’m getting a divorce today. That’s not changing.”

Tiana’s eyes were red and swollen, like she hadn’t slept in days. She stepped forward and grabbed my hand.

“Charles, please… just tell me what’s going on. You weren’t like this before. Don’t you remember our wedding vows? In sickness and in health, through good times and bad…” she said with trembling voice.

“Enough. Cut the act.” The emotion in her eyes made me sick.

“Get out of my way.”

I shoved her aside in disgust. She let out a soft cry as she fell to the ground. Her elbow scraped against the floor, bleeding instantly.

Eddie lost it and rushed towards me. Fingers pointed at me as he barked like some mad dog. “If you dare divorce Tia today, I swear I’ll beat you into a coma!”

“You’re a damn disgrace. I’d rather she be a widow than live with a man like you!” He snapped.

Eddie lunged at me, slamming me to the floor, fists flying like he wanted to kill me.

But I just sneered. “This is between my wife and me. Why the hell do you care? This isn’t your business.”

“We grew up together! I’m her brother!”

I laughed coldly. “Oh? The sleeping together kind of brother?”

“Shut the hell up! You’ve got a dirty mind and assume everyone else does too.”

He hesitated for just a second. That was all I needed. I landed a solid punch right in his gut.

Eddie liked to flex his six-pack, but it was just for show. He had no idea I’d trained.

Meanwhile, Tiana screamed at the sight. “Charles, stop it! You might hurt him for real!”

She panicked as I pinned Eddie down, my hand gripping his throat. His face turned purple as his breathing grew labored.

Tiana, frantic, grabbed a porcelain vase from the side table and smashed it over my head.

Chaos exploded. People screamed.

“Oh my God! There’s so much blood!”

“Call an ambulance!”

Warm liquid trickled down the side of my face. My vision blurred as the noise around me faded into a chaotic hum.

“Babe! I-I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to!” Tiana’s voice shook. “I was scared you’d go too far and someone would die…”

Then, she said, “I-I already called 911!”

As I blacked out, I was probably wearing a bitter smile.

See? That was my loving wife, trying to protect her childhood crush and smashed a vase over my head, her husband, to protect him.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed. My skull throbbed like it had split in two.

“Chaz, don’t move. You just got more than a dozen stitches…” said a familiar voice.

I shut my eyes and let out a dry laugh. “Did you sign the divorce papers? Once I’m discharged, we’ll go to City Hall and file.”

Tiana’s sobbing cut off. “You’re still thinking about divorce?”

She stared at me, stunned, tears dripping onto the back of my hand. “Charles, I love you. The second I saw you were hurt, I called an ambulance. What’s gotten into you?”

I couldn’t help the cold laugh. “You love me? So you smashed a porcelain vase to my head?”

If that was love, I would rather she loved another man.

My question caught her off guard and quickly defended herself.

“Charles, I was panicking! You looked possessed, you were choking Eddie so hard you terrified us.”

“You know Eddie's and my families have been neighbors for decades. Eddie and I grew up together—like, diapers-on kind of childhood.”

“He was trying to help, to talk us down. How could you say those things about him?”

“Enough,” I cut her off, icy. “Explain all you want; I’m not listening. What I care about is that: we’re divorcing.”

Even my eavesdropping in-laws traded baffled looks at my response. They hadn’t expected me to be this resolute, so the couldn't stay silent. My in-laws finally walked into the room.

My father-in-law said, trying to take my side at first, “Chuck, you’re not usually this cold. Be honest—did Tiana do something that upset you? Tell me and I’ll set her straight.”

Before I could answer, he shifted gears. “Or is there someone else? We’re both men here—don’t let some temptress cloud your judgment and ruin your life.”

Meanwhile, my mother-in-law’s patience wore thin. She chimed in from the side, “Every couple fights. You argue at night and make up by morning. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“A man should have a little backbone. If you bring up divorce every time things get hard, how are you supposed to build a life together?”

Tiana was more patient than usual. She held my hand and asked softly, “Babe, what’s really going on? Tell me and we’ll fix it together. You’re this determined to leave… are you… Did something happened to you? Something you couldn't tell?”

Her careful, anxious eyes trembled. More tears fell. “No matter what you’re facing, I won’t abandon you. You don’t have to be afraid of dragging me down.”

I looked at her without expression.

All these years together, the moment she cried, I always caved. Whatever she asked for, I agreed to.

When she wanted to clear out a room and turn it into an art studio—I said yes...

Outside her art studio, Tiana had a sign taped to the door:

"Charles and dogs not allowed."

I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I was done pretending I didn’t care.

“There’s nothing left to say, Tiana. I don’t love you anymore," I said flatly.

“What… what did you say?” Tiana flinched like I’d just smacked her. I could even see her lashes trembled.

“Charles, I gave birth to your child and now you say you don’t love me? Is your empathy dead?” Her shoulders shook uncontrollably as she cried.

My father-in-law, let out a sharp, irritated huff. “Well, Charles, you’re the one asking for this. If you go through with this divorce, don’t expect to walk away with a dime. You’ll leave with nothing.”

I didn’t respond. I just closed my eyes.

My silence only enraged them further. They helped the crying, broken Tiana to her feet and stormed toward the door.

“Stop wasting your tears on a man like him. Let’s go.”

They were clearly fuming, unable to make sense of it all—how a seemingly normal marriage had crumbled into something so bitter.

A few days later, my buddy Alex showed up at the hospital after hearing I’d been injured.

“Charles, what the hell happened to you, man?”

Alex had already heard the rumors. Everyone had.

Tiana smashing a vase over my head to protect her childhood crush—yeah, that one even made it to the local trending newsfeed.

Now, I was a walking meme, the butt of every joke online.

Alex looked at the bandages on my head and took a deep breath. “I thought you and your wife were the golden couple. How’d it end up like this?”

I stayed quiet for a long time before finally speaking. “Have you ever seen the David statue?”

Alex blinked. “You mean the naked one? In Rome? That David?”

“Yeah.”

He waited for me to go on.

“There’s one in Tiana’s art studio too.”

“No way. That’s gotta be a fake.” Alex blinked again, confused—and then let out a laugh.

“It is,” I said quickly. “But here’s the thing. It moves.”

"Huh?" Alex’s face froze. "What do you..."

He didn’t finish the sentence forming on his lips, but he understood what I was trying to say.

***

Two weeks passed.

After I was discharged, Tiana greeted me at home in lingerie she hadn’t worn in years. Her perfume filled the room. I could tell her get ups were intentional

“Chaz,” she cooed, brushing up against me, “I know I’ve been distant lately. So, tell me. Whatever you didn’t like, I’ll change.”

Her voice turned sugary sweet. She was acting like a kitten all of a sudden. I knew this act well, it was how she’d always tried to win me over.

But the moment I thought about that studio she never let me into—I instantly felt sick.

“Chaz…” She wrapped her arms around me from behind and kissed the back of my neck. “For all the neglect I've done, I’ll make up to you—ah!”

I’d shoved her off me, hard. She hit the floor with a thud.

Startled by my sudden aggression, Tiana finally lost it.

“Playing hard to get, Charles? I’ve apologized. I’ve tried to make it up to you. What the hell else do you want?!”

I looked at her flushed face. I couldn’t tell if she was flushed from anger—or from someone else’s touch.

“I’m not playing any games here. I've told you what I want: a divorce,” I spoke with disinterest.

Tiana froze. Even then, she kept begging, desperately trying to change my mind.