Page 6 of Against All Odds

Really?He was fucking around, and now he wants to screw me over in the divorce.

“According to our prenup, everything we acquired as a married couple needs to be divided—half and half, Jack. Since you started your practiceafterwe got married, I could come after your business. Do you want me to do that?”

Yeah, so even I was surprised those words came out of my mouth. Maybe Jack should’ve fucked Molly or someone else years ago, and I could’ve found my balls through heartbreak and heartache.

He went pale.

Jack was a handsome forty-three-year-old man with silver fox appeal. He had kept all his hair. He wasn’t jacked up when it came to his body, but no one would say he was overweight or anything. He didn’t have a beer gut, and due to his love for running on his treadmill, he was in decent shape. Dr. Jack Cavalieri, DDS, was quite a catch.

Damn it, I’d have to change my last name. No way was I going to stay Sable Cavalieri. I’d done it because Jack insisted. He was antiquated that way and, apparently, in other ways, including having a side piece.

“You can’t do that…you can’t take part of the practice,” he said, horrified.

“Then let’s sell the house and split the proceeds right in the middle, or you can buy me out, whatever works for you. We do that, I won’t touch your…well,anything.”

“Sable, you had this life because of me. I mean, you work as a fucking bank teller and make next to nothing.”

True. My job wasn’t fancy and didn’t pay me the big bucks.

“And according to the law and the prenup your lawyer drafted for us to sign, I’m allowed to continue to have it even if you decide to get your assistant pregnant.” I rose, announcing I was done with this conversation.

I couldn’t stand to look at Jack and talk to him about mundane shit like money when he’d just upended our lives. We’d dated for two years and had been married for eight. I met him when I turned thirty, and now, a decade later, it was over, and he was haggling over finances?Un-fucking-believable.

“Look, Jack, I’m not trying to screw you over or fleece you. We have been building a life for a decade. I worked in your dentist’s office on and off for the past, God knows how many years, whenever you needed it. I helped you build your business by managing your website and all of that before you were making enough to hire someone to do it. Before Molly was bouncing on your dick, I was helping you manage appointments and care for your patients. Trust me, you’re getting off cheap. You make me go to a lawyer, and who knows what will happen.”

The thing about being with someone for ten years is that you know all of their weak spots and where the buttons are located. I pushed all the right ones. Every time one of our friends got divorced, Jack went into a tizzy about how the bitch-wife was taking her husband for all she could because her lawyer was a barracuda.

I smiled as I headed to our bedroom. I stopped and turned around, “Can you move in with Molly until I can make plans and leave the house?”

“What?”

“I’d like you to leave tonight.Now. It’s going to take me a couple of weeks to figure out where to live and move my stuff out of here.”

“What stuff?”

Oh, this was turning out to be fun, and my sore heart desperately needed a little cheer. “Whatever I want, Jack. Like, the dining table.”Oh, yes, since you love it so much, you asshole. “The armchair in the reading nook. You can keep the bed,obviously.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’m telling you I’m leaving you, and you are…I don’t know, Sable, you’re being weird.”

“Am I?” I shrugged. “Jack, I’m forty years old. I’m out of fucks to give and too fucking old to be heartbroken. So, I’m not being weird. I’m being practical.”

Oh, the look on his face because I’d just dropped the F word twice in one sentence was priceless, as the credit card ad said.

“This is why we didn’t work out; you’re cold as a fish,” he sneered. “Both in and out of bed.”

I took a deep breath. I grew up in a trailer park and foster care; just because I’d spent a decade trying to make him happy didn’t mean I didn’t have claws. I let them out for a spin.

“Jack, darling, the only reason you felt I was cold in bed was because you have a problem with premature ejaculation.”

“I do not,” he shouted.

“As someone who fucked you for a long time, I canvouch for that.” I stayed calm even though my adrenaline was spiking. “Hell, I’m sure you’ve come before your time with Molly.”

Guilt flashed on his face, and I knew I was right. I wanted to high-five myself. But I was too fucking heartbroken. The man I was going to spend my life with was leaving me. My chance at beingnormalhad been taken away from me. I was going to die alone because Jack,average Jack, had been my last chance at living a life that people on the other side of the tracks had.

“Goodnight, Jack. I’ll expect divorce papers by the end of next week.”

“We should talk about this,” he whined.

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