Part 1The Price of a Midlife Crisis

On our anniversary, Ethan asked me for a divorce.

He told me he had finally met the true love of his life, and that our boring, suburban routine was slowly killing him.

"What do you even do besides buy groceries and watch the kid? If I try to talk to you about the company, do you even understand half of what I’m saying?"

"We genuinely have absolutely zero in common anymore. I want a divorce."

But I didn't snap. I didn't scream or demand to know why like I did the last time he pulled this.

I just paused, setting down the spoon I was using to serve his dinner.

"Okay. I agree."

He froze. He clearly hadn't expected that.

Honestly, I hadn't either.

If I hadn't randomly run into an old high school friend last week who worked in HR at his tech firm—and if she hadn't tipped me off that Ethan was on the upcoming mass layoff list—I probably would have fought him on it.

I looked up at him and offered a faint smile.

"Leo is still little, he needs his mom. He stays with me."

"As long as you don't screw over me and your son on child support and the asset split, we have a deal."

* * *

Hearing me mention our son, a rare flicker of guilt actually crossed Ethan's face.

"Don't worry. Leo is my son, too."

"I'll give you $1,500 a month in child support, and I'll cover all his tuition and school fees."

I sighed and set my fork down.

"$1,500 isn't going to cut it."

"Living in Seattle is incredibly expensive, and Leo is starting elementary school. Extracurriculars, tutoring, sports—it all adds up. I'm not going to let our son’s quality of life drop."

Ethan went silent.

He frowned, clearly annoyed, assuming I was just using Leo as leverage to bleed him dry.

"Fine. I'll bump it to $2,500 a month."

"But I'm keeping the Tesla."

I didn't argue.

I just looked up at him, letting my eyes turn a little red and glassy.

"I was never planning on fighting you for the car."

"If you feel like $2,500 a month is too much of a burden, just write me a single check for $50,000 right now. That way, when you get remarried, if Leo and I have an emergency, we won't have to constantly bother you for cash."

Ethan looked at me, his guilt flaring up again. He pulled out his phone and quickly checked the Kelly Blue Book value of the Tesla.

We bought that Model X fully loaded for almost $90k.

Even selling it used right now, he could easily get $50k or $60k.

Me only asking for $50k in cash meant he was technically walking away with the better end of the deal.

"Deal."

I let out a long, quiet breath of relief. I went to the bedroom and grabbed a debit card from my nightstand.

"This is the joint account where your direct deposits go."

"After paying for the mortgage and the household bills, I saved the rest. There’s exactly $600,000 in here. We split it 50/50, plus the $50k you just agreed to give me. I take $350k, and the remaining $250k is all yours."

Ethan hesitated.

I knew exactly what he was thinking. Seeing me casually slice away that much of his liquid cash in one breath made him physically uncomfortable.

Even though he was the one demanding the divorce, it still burned.

I looked down, forcing a few tears to spill over my lashes.

"Ethan, since January, not a single paycheck has hit this account."

"I know you requested a direct deposit change through HR. I know you've been spending that money somewhere else. Legally, that is still our marital property. If I hire a forensic accountant to audit your spending..."

I didn't even have to finish the sentence before Ethan aggressively cut me off.

"Alright, fine! We'll do it your way."

"I'm clearing half a million a year right now. You don't need to sit here sobbing over a few thousand bucks."

I quickly wiped my tears, gripping the debit card, and offered him a strained, grateful smile.

"Thank you."

Seeing me force a smile just to secure a little bit of money made Ethan feel a strange, arrogant pang of pity.

He rubbed his temples and sighed.

"There's just the two properties left. What do you want to do?"

"The smaller condo is zoned for the good school district, so we need that for Leo's education. Let's just transfer the deed directly into Leo's name."

Ethan nodded in agreement.

I continued:

"As for this house, our primary residence... if you want to keep it, you buy me out for half the current market value. If you want to sell it, we list it and split the equity 50/50."

Ethan didn't say a word. He just blinked twice.

After eight years of marriage, I knew that micro-expression perfectly.

Whenever Ethan was trying to formulate a lie on the spot, he always blinked exactly twice.

The lie was ready.

"Let's just sell it. I'll split the cash with you."

"Don't worry about it, I'll handle finding the realtor."