Divorced Over Fishing

My devoted husband, who always revolves around me, suddenly became addicted to night fishing. He would come home every morning with bags all over his body and a bucket full of fish.

Even when his son was sick and hospitalized, he had no time to take care of him:

"The tide waits for no one, my dear, wait for me to return with a full load!"

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I filed for divorce when he followed a Michelin chef and learned how to make a whole fish feast to celebrate his son's recovery.

Friends and relatives accused me of being too dramatic.

Richard Sterling took off his apron and slammed it in my face, furious:

"The fish is already in your stomach, how can you be so confident?"

"If you and your son didn't love fish, would I have gone fishing at night to feed mosquitoes?"

I brushed off my apron, pointed at the mosquito welts around his neck, and smiled faintly:

"You love fishing and you enjoy feeding mosquitoes, don't put the blame on us mother and son. After the divorce, you can fish however you like!"

Richard seemed to have thought of something, raised his hand and scratched the mosquito welts casually, then turned around to coax his son:

"Andy, go get your mosquito spray and apply it to Dad!"

My son ran out of the room with his short legs. Richard stopped pretending and threw a bowl of fish soup directly on my face:

"Evelyn Rossi, you are so unreasonable! If I hadn't been concerned about my son, I would have just wanted to splash you to wake you up!"

"Isn't it just that my son was in the hospital and I didn't keep watch? How could it be so big a deal that you would use a fish as a raft to divorce me?"

I wiped the fish soup off my face. The fishy smell mixed with the greasy feeling of the hot soup stuck to my skin like a layer of shame that could not be removed.

The eyes of people around me stabbed at me like knives, but I no longer cared.

I pulled the document out of my bag and threw it on the table:

"I have prepared the divorce agreement. Please sign it."

My father was the first to react. He bent down to pick up the agreement, and his face suddenly changed after glancing at it.

Richard heard this and snatched the divorce agreement.

After seeing the terms clearly, he looked up suddenly, his eyes full of disbelief:

"Evelyn, are you crazy?"

"What qualifications do you have to snatch my son from me and make me violate the pre-nuptial agreement? Do you really think that because I love you, I can tolerate all your bad tempers?"

"I'm not crazy, you are the crazy one."

I looked him straight in the eye and said word by word:

"You've let Andy and I down. What's the problem with me taking back the property that's rightfully mine?"

"Snap!"

My father slapped me in the face, and the burning pain instantly spread to my ears.

I tilted my head, and amid the buzzing ringing in my ears, I could vaguely hear his furious voice:

"How could I give birth to such an ungrateful daughter like you! Richard works during the day to earn money to support you, and fishes and cooks for you at night. Where can I find such a man?"

"I often go fishing with Richard, sometimes I stay out all night, and your mother doesn't seem to have any complaints. On the contrary, Richard praises you to the sky every day, and you are making a fuss about it!"

"Richard just suddenly developed a hobby. There are so many people who like fishing. How can that be considered as an injustice to you? And can it be a violation of his pre-nuptial agreement?"

I slowly turned my face back, touched my numb cheek with the tip of my tongue, and tasted the taste of rust in my mouth.

In the corner of my eye, Richard was standing aside with a faint smile on his face, as if he was watching a farce that had nothing to do with him.

Everyone thinks he is a perfect man, and marrying him is the blessing I have earned in several lifetimes.

Whenever there was a little conflict, Richard didn't need to say anything, my parents would teach me how to be a wife on his behalf.

He took advantage of the situation to coax me and bought me famous bags and jewelry without paying any money, which made countless people envy me for my good fortune.