Wil sat at the kitchen table drinking his coffee and reading the news, one clickbait byline at a time. He looked up in alarm when his wife, Korinna, stormed in. She slid a thick brown envelope under Wil’s hand and barked, "I want a divorce!"
Wil jerked back, heart pounding, as imaginary shards of glass lodged themselves in his chest and cut him deep. "W-what?" he eventually stammered.
"You lying, cheating, bastard! I want a divorce," Korinna repeated angrily.
Wil leaped to his feet as his mind spun. Lying? Cheating? Divorce? What the hell happened?! Why did she think that way! He'd never been unfaithful! Never lied to her beyond the occasional ‘that dress looks great on you’ or ‘no, those leggings don’t make your ass look fat’. He couldn’t discern a single reason for her to want a divorce. They were happy, weren’t they?
He reached for her, and she flinched.
"Sweetheart?” he said, his heart thudding painfully in his chest. “What's wrong? What do you mean, 'you want a divorce'? I don’t understand."
“Exactly that, you fucking asshole. A. Divorce. I want one!”
This made no sense. Will stepped around the table and went to hug Korinna, but she stepped to the side, evading him.
“I don’t understand. I love you. Sweetheart, please talk to me. What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Alise is pregnant!” Korinna yelled, her tone accusatory.
Wil shook his head in confusion. Alise? Pregnant? How did Korinna’s sister, Alise, have anything to do with the conversation. “Good for her?” he offered, unsure how else to respond.
“She says it’s yours!”
Wil’s mouth dropped open in surprise as all his muscles locked at the shock of her words. A pins and needles sensation crawled up and down his arms. His mouth dried. The fierce denial on the tip of his tongue, yet the words would not come.
Finally, his head began to swing side to side. Slowly at first, but then faster as he vehemently denied her accusations. “Not possible!” he countered. “I’ve only ever had sex with you, you know that!” he asserted. Even the hint of him being unfaithful to his wonderful Korinna made his stomach roil.
“Bullshit! Alise says it’s yours, and I believe her!”
“Sweetheart, no!” Wil said, his neck muscle nearly getting a kink in them from how fast he was shaking his head. “I love you! No one else! I would never stray. Check my phone. Check my search history. Chats! Anything! I didn’t do it! I didn’t cheat on you, love!”
Korinna’s gaze was stern. “Sign the papers.”
Wil felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t do it. He’d only ever loved Korinna. They’d met in high school, and that was it for him. He’d never looked at another. He had no idea where this animosity and hatred in her expression came from. He’d never seen it there before.
“I can’t,” he choked out past a suppressed sob.
“You will give me a divorce even if I have to get all the cops within the state to come here and force the pen into your hand!”
Shaking, Will took a seat at the kitchen table, tears flowing freely now. “Why? I don’t understand. I—”
“Shut up! How could you do that to me? My sister? Was it in our bed? How many other women have you fucked?!”
All Wil could do was sit and murmur “no” to each of Korinna’s outraged questions.
“You are impossible! Nothing to say for yourself?” Korinna eventually spat at him. “Fine! I’m out of here. Don’t call me. Don’t try to see me. Don’t come near me! I don’t want to know you exist unless it’s to give me those signed papers!”
With those parting words, the love of his life spun around and charged for the bedroom. A few minutes later, Korinna reemerged with a suitcase, and as she closed the door, she looked at him over her shoulder and flung the worst words Wil had ever heard from her. “I hate you, Wil!”
NINE MONTHS AND A FEW DAYS LATER
Wil sat in the courtroom as the judge determined the child support amount he would need to pay Alise monthly for the care of their baby boy that Wil had no idea how he’d fathered. His best guess was that Alise had come over and found a used condom and had artificially inseminated herself with it. It was far-fetched and completely outrageous, but the truth was he had no idea how she came to be pregnant with his son. The only thing he knew with a hundred percent surety was that he’d never slept with anyone other than Korinna.
After the court reading was done, his ex-wife Korinna, Alise, and their son Harrison filed out of the courtroom. Once they were gone, Wil got to his feet and shook his lawyer’s hand.
“You all right there?” Wil’s lawyer asked.
No. He wasn’t all right, but he told the man the opposite anyway.
“Well, if you need me, you know my number,” the lawyer said and finished gathering his things.
Trailing behind the well-dressed man, Wil made his way out of the courtroom and called rideshare. At least he’d been awarded partial custody of Harrison. Apparently, even “cheating bastards” were allowed to see their sons two weekends a month. Wil sighed, depression riding him hard.
Exiting the artificial arctic of the courthouse’s rigorous AC, Wil gave himself a moment to warm up in the sunshine. The heat didn’t help the heaviness in his heart, but at least he wasn’t shivering anymore.
After his brief break in the sun, he spied Alise, Harrison, and Korinna standing off to the side of the courthouse property near the sidewalk. Wil walked to them with heavy footsteps. He didn’t want to look into Korinna’s eyes. She had a sick sort of triumph gleaming there, and he feared why.
“Hello, Harrison,” Wil said, greeting his three-month-old. “Is your momma treating you right?”
Harrison gurgled and smiled. Wil felt his lips twitch in a half-hearted response to the adorable baby. Eventually, he looked up and gave Alise his attention. “I’ll pick him up next Friday at 7p. Will that work?” Wil asked, confirming the custody agreement’s visitation dates.
Alise nodded. “I’ll see you then.”
Wil returned the gesture.
Looking at his ex, Wil tipped his chin down to acknowledge her presence but didn’t speak to her. He didn’t have anything to say to her anyway. He had no idea how to bridge this unfathomable gap.
Turning, he made his way to the corner where he met up with his rideshare. Getting into the vehicle, he confirmed the destination details and rested his head against the passenger window—sadness compressed his chest and shoulders until he felt weak and small. How would he ever survive this?
TWENTY-THREE YEARS LATER
Wil sat with Harrison at the small diner near Harrison’s University.
“I can’t wait for you to meet her,” Harrison said, pride in his tone. “She’s beautiful and sweet and everything you would want in a daughter-in-law. She’s even in pre-med, like me!”
Wil smiled at Harrison’s enthusiasm. This had to be Harrison’s fifth girlfriend since high school that was ‘the one’.
“I’m sure she is a delight. I can’t wait to meet her,” Wil confirmed, smiling indulgently. He couldn’t believe how much Harrison looked like him. The old knife pain of seeing his ex-wife in his son’s expressions had faded over time as the boy had grown into a man.
“Hey, dad,” Harrison said, snapping Wil’s attention back to the conversation they’d been having. “I uh…”
“Yes?” Wil’s curiosity was piqued now.
“I don’t know how to say this…”
Wil smiled encouragingly, despite his spike of alarm. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”
Harrison took a deep breath, then said, “I know what happened. You know. Between you and mom and auntie Korinna.”
That old familiar sting zinged Wil in the heart. To this day, Wil had no idea how Harrison had come to be conceived. Wil couldn’t determine how his perfect life—perfect wife—had turned to shit those many years ago.
“What do you know?” Wil asked, unsure what his son would say. Wil, Korinna, and Alise had agreed to keep the details of Harrison’s conception to themselves. Of course, Harrison had known of the divorce, but Wil had never gone into too much detail about the whys, though it would make sense for Harrison to have some ideas. He was an intelligent young man, after all.
Harrison looked out the window, visibly tense. “I know that auntie Korinna and mom… They sort of— you know, framed you.”
A fine tremor traveled down Wil’s arm to his hand, making his glass of Coke shake in his grip. He hastily put it down, afraid he’d drop it. “What do you mean?” Wil asked, not sure he wanted the answer.
Harrison glanced back at him and grimaced. “I…” Harrison paused for several beats before resolve hardened his features, and Wil’s heart nearly stopped in fear of what his son would say next.
“You can tell me,” Wil prompted, though he wanted to run and hide from the emotional wound he knew was coming. The pain of losing Korinna flared in his chest, making him grieve anew.
Signing heavily, Harrison said, “Auntie Korinna… She wanted to leave you but feared the confrontation of asking for a divorce, so she and mom cooked up a scheme to make it your fault.”
Wil shook his head, and Harrison frowned.
Harrison continued, “I learned way more about your sex life than I ever wanted to.”
Wil grunted in agreement, though he didn’t know what Harrison was talking about. “Go on,” he urged, fear clogging his throat.
“So… Yeah… Auntie Korinna, I guess, managed to convince you to be tied up and wear a blindfold—”
Wil’s surroundings faded away as his thoughts were instantly taken back to the only night where he’d submitted to some BDSM play with his beautiful then-wife.
“I want to try something new,” Korinna said breathily.
Wil grinned, “Yeah?”
Korinna showed him the heavy strips of cloth. “I want to tie your hands to the headboard and blindfold you. Will you let me?” she asked.
Being tied up for sex wasn’t appealing, but this was Korinna. He’d do anything for her. Stripping, Wil hopped onto the bed, and as he lay back, he put his hands on the headboard. “Do your worst.”
Korinna giggled. “Oh, I will.” After tying him, she kissed him. “Ready?”
Wil nodded, and Korinna placed the blindfold over his eyes.
The next hour or so had been fantastic. He’d never come so hard or so many times in his life. When they were done, and Korinna finally sated next to him, she whispered, “Thanks for that.”
Wil chuckled. “Anything for you, but can you untie me now? I want to hold you.”
“While you couldn’t see, mom and auntie Korinna traded places. Auntie Korinna stayed close so that you wouldn’t know.” Harrison fell silent, and Wil’s thoughts reeled. They’d traded places? His body broke out in a cold sweat, and he felt a betrayal so deep he couldn’t fathom its bottom. He’d had sex with Alise without his knowledge or consent, and Korinna had not only known but actively participated?
Harrison slumped in the chair and played with his napkin. After an indeterminate time, Harrison straightened and touched Wil’s forearm. “I’m sorry. Mom and auntie Korinna did that to you. It was wrong and cruel; I can’t imagine how you feel right now. But I’m not sorry to be here with you. You’ve been the best dad, and I love you.”
Wil gripped Harrison’s hand in his, acknowledging that truth between them.
Eventually, Harrison said his goodbyes and left the restaurant.
Wil didn’t move. Not for a long time. But once he did, he began the arduous task of collecting his shattered heart and wondered how to live again.
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