Jordan smiled triumphantly. “I knew it.” But Clark wasn’t finished. “She hired me because after twenty years with you, she genuinely believed no attractive man would choose to stand beside her unless he was being PAID.”
Jordan’s smile disappeared. Clark revealed everything I’d told him privately.
That I’d apologized for my body. That I’d worried people would laugh if he stood too close.
That I’d asked repeatedly whether my dress made me look ridiculous. Then Clark looked directly at Jordan.
“You didn’t just leave your wife. You trained her to believe she had become invisible.”
Nobody said a word. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2} Then my nineteen-year-old daughter Lily stepped forward.
She handed her father another folded paper. At the top she’d written: THINGS MOM GAVE UP.
College classes. A promotion. Travel. Sleep. Weekends. Savings. Years of putting herself last.
At the bottom was another heading: THINGS DAD GAVE UP: And beneath it was one word.
US. Jordan collapsed into a patio chair. Then Percy turned toward me and sneered: “You think this means he wants you back?”
For the first time since my divorce, I laughed. “No.” Jordan looked up.
“I don’t want him back.” And the moment those words left my mouth, Jordan’s expression changed completely—because until then, he’d apparently believed I would always be waiting.
But what happened after that party wasn’t something Jordan, Percy… or even my fake boyfriend expected.
(I know you’re all very curious about the next part, so if you want to read more, please leave a “YES” comment below) See less
