The Last of My Forbearance

After my wife Janine Cartwood's 99th argument with her lover, she came to me and complained, "Can't you go down on your knees and apologize to him? He wouldn't have gotten mad at me if you hadn't shown up in front of him with our son."

Janine smiled and spoke about this as if it were a joke, but I knew she was serious.

I had rejected her once before, but she retaliated by getting rid of my dog and refusing to pay for my mother's medical fees. I took it all in my stride and tolerated her antics because I wanted to give our son a complete home.

This continued until yesterday, when she purposely fed our son, Jesse Langdon, medicine that caused him to go into shock in my arms. I lost all hope for her when that happened.

Janine thought I was unwilling when she saw me keeping silent. She was about to berate me when I handed her our divorce papers and said softly, "He must have gotten sick of seeing me kneel. Let's just coax him by getting a divorce. I bet that will cheer him up even more."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and I could see the glee in her eyes. "You're getting better at this. You're even taking the initiative to find ways to make me happy."

I did not reply and only smiled understandingly. It was because I was not trying to make her happy. I just did not want her anymore.

"Don't worry, we'll remarry once Charlie forgives me," Janine Cartwood said while signing the papers. She was confident that I would always love her, which was why she did not read the terms in the divorce papers.

In a rare moment, Janine lost herself in thought as the divorce was finalized. When she turned to me to say something, Charlie Lloyd embraced her excitedly. "I can't believe you got divorced for me, Janine! I love you so much!"

He clasped her face and kissed her as the staff at the law firm looked at each other and later sympathetically at me. My ex-wife and her lover were kissing each other passionately outside the firm on the day we got officially divorced. Any husband who had experienced this, as I was right now, deserved some pity.

I looked away calmly and pushed the doors open to leave. That was when fireworks started exploding in the sky, and Janine was heard saying adoringly, "I customized this fireworks performance just for you, Charlie. You'll see your name once the fireworks end."

This took me by surprise. It was something I had also dreamed about when we first got married, but Janine's career had just kicked off, and she had been financially strapped. I did not want to put her in a difficult position, so I got some cheap fireworks instead. Even then, when those blinding fireworks exploded in the air, I still smiled with contentment.

Janine teared up then as she hugged me, promising me, "I'll make this up to you one day, Joe. I'll fill the sky with your name when that day comes."

After that, we did make a lot of money, but that promise was forgotten. It was only when I witnessed the extravagant fireworks in the sky that I realized that her love never really disappeared; it had just blossomed on another person.

"Dad!"

The cheerful voice made me snap out of it, and Jesse Langdon released the assistant's hand to run into my arms like a little puppy. It was his birthday today, and Janine and I had promised to take him to the theme park.

I turned to look at Janine, but she seemed taken aback the moment Jesse appeared. I knew right away that she had forgotten the promise, just as she always did.

Every time Janine forgot our son's birthday or failed to show up for his parent-teacher meeting, I would patiently explain to everyone, "Jesse's mom is busy on a business trip."

However, I was immediately embarrassed when everyone saw Janine accompanying Charlie on a stroll in the romantic streets of Florenta on television. For the past six years, I had endured similar situations, and my friends and family started looking at me with great pity, but I did not care.

Unfortunately, my son suffered the brunt of this as other children started calling him names, saying he was a bastard and an unwanted child. He would end up crying hysterically in my arms, and I eventually realized that I could no longer lie to myself. The truth was that Janine did not love our son or me.

However, I still wanted to fight for my son one more time. Before I could say anything, a boy of a similar age to Jesse popped out of Janine's car. It was Charlie's son with his ex-wife.

Charlie said softly, "Sorry about this, Joe. Janine insisted on bringing us along."