Page 6 of His Vengeful Tradwife

I pushed away roughly from the table, feeling frustration boil in my gut.

"Why are you acting like this?" I demanded, advancing on her as she pulled out ingredients and laid them on the table.

It looked like she was going to bake apie. Of all the goddamn things to do when your husband has just announced he wants a divorce!

Tallulah whirled around, my arms automatically gripping the counter on either side of her before I quite realized what I was doing.

"Back up, Maverick!" she snapped, her eyes narrowed in anger. "We're through. That means you don't get to come looming over me and panting down my back anymore."

I dropped my arms and jerked back, running my hands through my hair. I felt strangely on edge and buzzy.

I didn't want to touch her anyway.It had just been muscle memory to get close to her like that.

"Good," I said, breathing heavily through my nostrils. "I'm glad you're accepting this," I added, somewhat lamely.

Her narrowed eyes widened. "Of course!" she chirped. "In fact, you can go stay with your little friend tonight, if you want."

I stared at Tallulah. Hadn't she been telling me over and over that I should come home earlier, spend more time with the kids?

"I don't--that's not on the schedule for tonight."

"Too bad!" my wife said, reaching for the sugar.

Now I felt on more secure ground. Amanda had said Tallulah might want to get me out of the house.

"I am staying here for now. . .until we get everything settled. It's better for the kids."

"All right," my wife said pleasantly. "We can let the lawyers hammer out all the financial stuff. But, for now, we can swap out weekends. We'll each be responsible for the meals, cleaning, and kid care on our weekend. Then the next weekend will be the other person's turn. You can take the first weekend if you like."

Tallulah was being so reasonable that I couldn't help being suspicious. "I want the kids to meet Amanda," I insisted. "She's going to be in their lives for a long time, so I'd like them to get to know her right away."

If I expected my wife to protest this, I was mistaken.

"What a lovely idea," she said as she swirled heavy whipping cream into a bowl. "But I think we should make a rule that neither of us can introduce someone new as our boyfriend or girlfriend for 6 months. They can meet Amanda. Just not as your girlfriend. And the same will go for anyone I date."

Anyone she dates?Pft, I knew very well my wife was far too in love with me to date anyone anytime soon.

"It's a deal," I said, straightening my tie and trying to resurrect some of the buoyant joy I had been expecting to feelat this point in the proceedings. Why didn't this feel like a win? Why wasn't I ecstatic at the fact that I would soon be able to be with my soulmate?

Tallulah turned and stuck out her little fingers, and, before I knew what was happening, she had gripped my much bigger hand and was shaking it firmly.

"It's a deal. Let's wrap this up. We had a good 10 years and now it's over. There, that was painless."

I stared at her, not liking how the handshake had felt cold, impersonal, dismissive. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would have told my wife I wanted a divorce and have her respond like this. Never in my life would I have imagined she would shake my hand, shrug her shoulders, and move away as if our 10 years together hadn't meantshitto her.

She must be putting on quite the front. I would have sworn up and down she was deeply in love with me.

"There's no need for things to get unpleasant," I said, my voice sounding strange to my ears. "We can discuss these issues like adults, I think."

My wife smiled at me, her full pink lips curving up. "Quite so," she said. "No needat allfor things to get unpleasant.”

CHAPTER 4

Maverick

Ihad been feeling guilty about working so much recently, so I was pleased to get the first weekend with the kids. Even though this case we were working on had the potential to skyrocket my career into the stratosphere, it was still important to me to spend time with my kids.

So that Saturday morning, Tallulah walked into the guest bedroom and tapped me firmly on the shoulder.

---