Brandon appeared completely alone. He no longer had the arrogant, prideful demeanor he displayed in the downtown cafeteria. He had dark circles under his tired eyes, his shirt was noticeably wrinkled, and his hands were restless.
Before entering the courtroom, he approached me in the hallway.
“We can still work this out between us, Melanie,” he murmured softly. “You can come back to me, we will move into a place on our own, and my mom won’t interfere in our lives anymore.”
I looked at his desperate face in complete surprise.
“After threatening my safety, sending people to harass me, and exposing my innocent parents online, do you still honestly think the only problem was living with your mom?” I asked him.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“No, you do not,” I said. “You simply loved having me safe and controlled inside your house.”
“You are just exaggerating everything out of stubborn pride,” he claimed.
I smiled at him. It was the exact same calm smile I had given him when he threw the dirty rag at me on our first morning.
“My pride was the only thing you failed to tarnish,” I said.
We went into the courtroom together.
The judge carefully reviewed all the legal documents, confirmed that we both fully understood the agreement, and asked if our decision to divorce was free. I answered yes immediately. Brandon took a few painful seconds to process it, but he also muttered yes.
We both signed the papers.
The sound of my pen moving on the paper was almost imperceptible in the quiet room, but to me, it sounded like a heavy prison door closing forever.
When I finished signing, I immediately transferred the agreed-upon one hundred thousand dollars via my phone app. Donald checked the digital receipt. Brandon put his copy of the divorce papers away in his bag without looking at me again.
However, he called my name one last time in the busy hallway outside.
“Are you satisfied now?” he asked bitterly. “You officially lost a husband, a big house, and a family.”
My father took an angry step forward, but I raised my hand to stop him.
“I did not lose a family, Brandon,” I told him. “A real family does not throw dirt at you to teach you your place. I lost a giant lie, and it was the best thing I could have ever lost.”
“Nobody is ever going to want to marry you after all this public drama,” he sneered.
“Then I will live happily without getting married,” I replied. “But I will never live on my knees again.”
I turned my back on him.
Outside the court building, Jessica opened her arms wide for a hug. My mother cried tears of relief. Dad kissed my forehead gently, and Justin held up a brown paper bag full of fresh sweet bread.
