you can’t even handle household chores so we might as well get a divorce Tom said with a smirk as he entered the hospital room I was connected to various medical devices and a girl I didn’t recognize stood by his side little did Tom know I had assets worth $6 million and a divorce in this situation would be a matter of life and death for a housewife like me fine he has the divorce papers I thought to myself I couldn’t be with a man who verbally abused his wife in such a state I reached into my bag pulled out the

divorce papers I always carried with me and handed them to Tom with a grin he accepted them now I can say goodbye to you I’ll be happy with her so don’t worry Tom said as he wrapped his arm around the girl referred to as Katherine lyen she sneered at me and said take care misso you’re not misss anymore take care ma’am with those words the two of them left the hospital room laughing but their happiness would only last for now alone in the room I couldn’t help but laugh out loud today was Friday so the divorce would be processed on Monday oh

I couldn’t wait for 3 days from now my name is analie Johnson a 45-year-old housewife from a regular Farm I didn’t have any particular skills but I was proud of my vast cooking repertoire my husband Tom and I were the same age and had been College classmates we both came to New York from the countryside and since we lived alone I used to cook various dishes for Tom using the vegetables and rice sent from my family people often said I had captured his heart through his stomach and I was aware of that Tom was and

still is incapable of doing any household chores I had been taking care of him since we were dating and after getting married I continued to handle all household tasks sadly we were not blessed with children but we enjoyed our life together as a couple we both love to eat and on Tom’s days off we’d often go on drives for small trips just to enjoy delicious food when we first got married Tom was kind but about three years in he became quite controlling well he never laid a hand on me his remarks became curd and he would often

say things that hurt but I didn’t have the energy to fight back assuming he wouldn’t listen anyway because I was a full-time housewife I felt inferior and couldn’t stand up to him Tom joined a renowned company after graduating from University but he resigned after about 5 years he quickly found new jobs but would resign from them after short periods because of this our income was unstable and we often struggled with our finances however at the company he’d been with for the past 2 years he seemed to get along with his colleagues I had

faint hopes that he might work there for a long time then one day Tom came home earlier than usual I’m home I quit my job what again I unintentionally voiced my surprise causing Tom’s eyebrows to Twitch in a panic I stopped cooking and rushed over to him I’m sorry I was just shocked huh no welcome back greeting and you’re criticizing what I do you’ve become quite audacious Tom responded at tomk words I stiffened he was in a very bad mood today and if I misspoke it could escalate into something worse I’m sorry I said as long as you understand

he grumbled my apology had somewhat plated him and he sat on the sofa turning on the TV I quietly placed a beer and a glass on the table do you want dinner or a bath food and alcohol he said to avoid upsetting Tom I played the role of this submissive wife I once had a strong sense of self but after 14 years of marriage to Tom since the age of 28 I rarely showed my true self after eating and drinking to his heart’s content Tom seemed to be in a better mood Tom had fallen asleep on the sofa snoring loudly the table was in such

disarray that it looked like a child had eaten there I began cleaning up the Fallen beer bottles and food scraps scattered on the floor this wasn’t how I had envisioned my married life memories of happier days as a young girl in love revealed my true feelings I stole a glance at Tom but he showed no signs of waking relief wash over me but alongside it was a growing sense of dread about continuing this life perhaps divorce was a consideration I started mentally organizing my schedule for the next day determined to confront the issues I had

been avoiding the following day while Tom began visiting the employment office and quickly securing another job I went to the city office and signed divorce papers I wasn’t quite ready to submit them but I felt having them would be a form of protection I discreetly stashed the sign divorce papers at the bottom of my frequently used bag if he were to discover them who knew what he might say or do hey where did you wander off to while I was job hunting Tom asked upon my return I went to the stationary store to buy

some resons look I thought you might need them I replied Tom unusually thoughtful that day initially interrogated me suspiciously but quickly cheered up I handed him the resumes I had bought earlier after receiving them Tom mentioned that he was going out for drinks with a friend and left his new job was with a reputable company offering a solid salary and better benefits than his previous positions I secretly hoped that perhaps this time he would stick with it until retirement Tom’s new Department seemed to be in sales and he started leaving

home more frequently for evening entertainment I cherish these brief moments of freedom and gathered the energy to greet Tom with a smile when he returned one day I received a call from my mother after a long time she excitedly told me about an unexpected windfall $6 million you know the mountains and lands we owned we don’t need them anymore we had them appraised and they are worth 8 million we only need 1 million to enjoy the rest of our lives so I think you might want to rethink your life too my mother was never fond of Tom and she had

been worried about me especially after Tom became more controlling preventing me from from even visiting my childhood home the amount she mentioned stunned me but what shocked me even more was that she had changed the title of the property inherited from my grandmother to my name to avoid inheritance taxes it was a difficult decision whether to tell Tom about the inheritance or to embrace a newfound Freedom about a week later I was involved in a traffic accident thankfully my life wasn’t in danger but I would need to be hospitalized for

about a week after securing my valuables in the hospital room drawer I immediately contacted Tom I’m sorry I got injured Tom’s initial reaction was huh what about my meals I almost confronted him for prioritizing his meals over my injury but I continued to explain it seems I’ll need to be hospitalized for a week I’m really sorry but could you buy your meals elsewhere until then Tom’s response was far from understanding not even preparing meals for your husband what a lazy wife oh wait I’m coming over now he abruptly

ended the call I had initially planned to tell him about the inheritance that night but now I wondered if it might be best not to mention it as I lay in the hospital bed surrounded by various tubes and undergoing precautionary examinations I couldn’t help but feel that my intuition about the unfolding events was about to prove correct Tom’s words had cut deep you’re useless can’t even do housework let’s get a divorce and you better pay me compensation with a smirk on his face he had said this to me connected to

numerous medical devices beside him stood a girl I didn’t recognize unaware that my total assets amounted to $6 million he should have realized that a divorce under these circumstances would be a matter of life and death for me a housewife fine here are the divorce papers I finally decided a man who would hurle abuse said his wife in this condition was someone I’d rather not have I handed over the divorce papers I had kept as a sort of charm and Tom accepted them with a smug smile on his face with this I can finally say goodbye

to you I’m going to be happy with her he declared wrapping his arm around the girls waist whom he referred to as Catherine Catherine the girl with Tom leaned against him and made fun of me she said take care Madam oh you’re not a Madam anymore take care old lady they left the room laughing but their happiness wouldn’t last long in my hospital room room I burst out laughing it was Friday and the divorce papers would be processed on Monday I couldn’t wait for those 3 days as I expected the weekend passed without any contact from

Tom it was quite peaceful but I felt Restless I wasn’t used to doing nothing every time I became Restless the nurses told me to stay calm on Monday evening I received a series of calls from Tom at first I ignored them but after about 30 minutes of non-stop ringing I decided to answer I told him to stop being so persistent Tom shouted at me as soon as I picked up I couldn’t help but laugh which seemed to make him even angrier Tom was Furious about the divorce papers not being accepted I chuckled and told him that I had previously filed a notice

of non-acceptance I reminded him how you used to casually mention getting divorced whenever we had a fight I thought it wouldn’t be a good idea if he filed for divorce on a whim during one of our arguments Tom was upset but quickly changed his mind he wanted me to withdraw the nonacceptance immediately however I had decided that I wouldn’t just do everything he said anymore I explained that I couldn’t do it until I was discharged and we needed to go through procedures at the municipal office before I could leave

the hospital Tom selfish demands made me laugh even more it seemed like he wanted to register his marriage with Catherine who he brought on Friday Tom was panicking and I asked if her name was Catherine and if she was his mistress Tom clarified that she was his new wife and since we weren’t divorced yet she technically was my mistress I calmly responded to Tom’s nonsensical remarks making him groan I decided to hit him where it hurt the most I mentioned that he would hear from my lawyer about the division of property including the

trouble this time I had always taken care of the household chores and had never cheated on him it was clear that Tom was the responsible party not me Tom seemed genuinely puzzled and believed that not taking care of him while I was hospitalized would make me at fault I explained patiently that not being able to do housework during my hospitalization didn’t make me at fault he had abandoned taking care of me and even if I were a child it would be considered neglect but as an adult he should be able to take care of himself

so it didn’t make me at fault Tom’s logic was baffling and even a judge would be shocked finally he seemed to understand but he still believed he was right he insisted that Catherine was his new wife and I was no longer of any use to him so it didn’t apply I pointed out that he was dating her behind my back which was clearly Cheating Tom still didn’t seem to get it and he believed he was right I decided to end the conversation and told him to communicate through a lawyer from now on I hung up the phone without listening to his

protests Tom called multiple times but I ignored him and eventually he gave up and fell silent I was relieved but the next day brought another headache the phone kept raining from 900 in the morning and I pressed the call button Tom complained about not being able to withdraw money from a bank account if it was a joint account he should be able to withdraw without any issues but I remembered the bank cards and passbooks I had left at home and asked Tom if he was trying to access my account Tom confirmed that he was trying to take

money from my account Tom was Furious and continued with his unreasonable arguments he didn’t seem to understand what I had explained the day before when I was going to be hospitalized for a week I had called the bank to prevent any withdrawals until I could handle it personally after being discharged this was to stop Tom who wasn’t careful with money from using my savings while I was in the hospital my decision turned out to be the right one it’s not right to try to take money from an ex-wife’s account especially after a

divorce however Tom didn’t see anything wrong with it and asked me to make a withdraw immediately I reminded him that we were practically strangers now and I had no money to give to strangers Tom was shocked by my resistance since I had never stood up to him like this before he insisted that I send the money and pay compensation for not doing housework unfortunately it seemed that despite his academic capability when we first met he lacked Common Sense after 17 years of marriage I spoke to Tom as if he were a

child explaining that I was no longer his submissive wife and we would settle the property division through a lawyer he became angry and threatened to come over right away I didn’t mind if he came to the hospital but I had already asked the nurses station not to let anyone in except for my parents so it was unlikely he could get to my room however Tom did come to the hospital but it seemed he was stopped at the nurse’s station as my phone kept ringing After ignoring it for a while it switched to messages and my

screen was flooded with notifications I saved all of them as evidence and contact Ed my lawyer after a while it seemed that the lawyer had gotten in touch with Tom as the messages stopped coming in just when I thought it was over there was a new development I was informed about a visitor named Karen who I had known for a long time and shared my interests she had responded to my posts about dining experiences on a social media platform we used to go out for meals together before I got married she expressed concern about my injury and shared her

suspicions that Catherine the young girl with Tom was having an affair with my husband I was shocked and asked her how she knew it turned out that Catherine was Karen’s niece she had told her sister Karen’s mother about getting married to a 45-year-old man and when Karen saw a photo it was of my husband I couldn’t believe the twist of fate Karen had already informed her sister about the trouble her niece had caused me Karen was thinking of demanding compensation from Catherine and assured me that our friendship would continue

she didn’t want to lose a precious friend over the situation she had scheduled a meeting with them to sort things out I was grateful for her support and friendship which had lasted for over 20 years tomorrow I want you to come with me I will be there and I can also show pictures as proof of their Affair the next day after leaving the hospital I went to a private restaurant room with my lawyer Tom and Catherine were already there enjoying an expensive traditional meal I was surprised at their audacity Tom reminded me to bring money

and pay for the meal I decided to stand up for myself and told them to handle the payment themselves I was there to demand a share of the assets from both of them ignoring Tom’s rude comments my lawyer and I took our seats and presented evidence to show that Tom was at fault we showed legal documents explaining why Tom was responsible and documents regarding the division of property we also displayed photos provided by Karen which showed Tom and Catherine together and Catherine with an unknown man entering a hotel this

surprised Tom and Catherine and they stopped stopped eating Karen arrived at the right moment and admitted to taking those photos Catherine was confused about her aunt being there Karen explained that she wanted to continue being friends with me even though she demanded compensation from Catherine she felt that Catherine’s actions were despicable Catherine mentioned being pregnant but when Karen saw her she didn’t look pregnant at all Tom seemed shocked by this news C and suddenly admitted that she had lied about the

pregnancy and apologized she had been looking for wealthy older men and Tom was the one who fell for her scheme she confessed that she had lied about being pregnant because Tom showed no signs of wanting to divorce Tom was speechless claiming he had no money to give Karen mentioned that she would bring Catherine for another apology later and took her out of the restaurant Tom tried to convince me that said he had been deceived and asked if we could start over he said I couldn’t work since I had always been a

housewife I told him I could live without him and that I’d be filing the divorce paper soon I revealed that I had around 6 million in personal net worth so I could live comfortably without working Tom was surprised and wanted a share of my money but I explained that it was my personal inheritance and didn’t count as marital assets we left and I filed for divorce ending our nearly 20-year marriage Catherine later transferred some money to my account and her mother made her work to prepare the compensation Tom was disowned by his

in-laws and had to take out a loan to pay me he lost his job due to being with Katherine at a hotel during work hours and now works multiple construction jobs to repay his debts I used the money I received for charity and moved to the countryside with the remaining amount I’m now enjoying a luxurious single life continuing my relationship with Karen we plan to stay single and even share a room go on Food Tours and take short trips together moving preparations will begin next week and I’m excited to live life joyfully and true to myself from

now on