Don’t Make a Drama, Her Husband Said — She Took Off Her Ring and He Froze!
Chapter 8
Jessica asked to meet Claire.
Claire almost refused.
Instead, she agreed.
They met at a quiet café.
Jessica looked nervous.
“I know you hate me.”
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t hate you.”
Jessica looked surprised.
“I deserve it.”
“You do.”
Jessica lowered her eyes.
“But I need to tell you the truth.”
Claire waited.
“I was supposed to help Evan investigate the company.”
“I know.”
“I developed feelings for him.”
Claire said nothing.
“It happened slowly.”
“You still chose to sleep with him.”
Jessica nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought he was leaving you.”
Claire stared.
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
Claire felt the anger rise.
“He never planned to leave.”
“I know that now.”
Jessica took a breath.
“He told me his marriage was over.”
Claire closed her eyes.
That hurt more than she expected.
Evan hadn’t just cheated.
He had built a second life.
Even if it had begun under complicated circumstances.
Jessica reached into her bag.
“I brought something.”
She handed Claire an envelope.
Inside was a contract.
A separation agreement Evan had drafted.
But it had never been signed.
Claire looked up.
“He wrote this?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he use it?”
Jessica shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Claire stared at the signature line.
Blank.
She folded the paper.
“Thank you.”
Jessica looked down.
“Are you going to leave him?”
Claire answered honestly.
“I don’t know.”
That evening, Claire confronted Evan.
“You told Jessica our marriage was over.”
Evan looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“No.”
He sat down.
“I was angry.”
“At me?”
“At myself.”
Claire listened.
“I felt like I’d failed.”
“How?”
“As a husband. As a father. At work.”
“So you escaped.”
“Yes.”
“Into an affair.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I loved you enough to believe we could tell each other everything.”
“I know.”
“And you made me feel crazy for noticing.”
Evan lowered his head.
“I was wrong.”
“You hurt me.”
“I know.”
Claire put the unsigned separation agreement on the table.
“You wrote this.”
“Yes.”
“You were planning to leave.”
“For a while.”
She stared at him.
“Then why are you still here?”
Evan looked at her.
“Because every day I imagined my life without you, and every time, I hated the picture.”
Claire wiped her tears.
“That doesn’t undo it.”
“No.”
“What does?”
“Nothing.”
He took off his wedding ring.
He placed it beside hers.
“I don’t deserve to ask you to stay.”
Claire stared at the two rings.
Then she said:
“Good.”
Evan looked up.
“Because I need to decide for myself.”
She picked up her ring.
Not to wear it.
Just to hold it.
“I don’t know whether our marriage can survive.”
Evan nodded.
“But if it does,” Claire continued, “it will not be the old marriage.”
“What will it be?”
“Something honest.”
Evan nodded.
“I’ll accept that.”
Outside, reporters were still waiting.
Inside, for the first time, neither of them was hiding.
But the biggest decision had not yet been made.
Claire still had to choose between ending the marriage…
or giving the man she loved one final chance.
