Finally, it’s too late

After six years of marriage, John started seeing someone else. He pressured me to divorce him, but I refused to sign the papers. He stopped trying to hide it and started flaunting his new girlfriend everywhere. Then one day, I called him, frantic. I told him he needed to divorce me immediately because I was about to embark on a mission, a mission I’d signed a life-or-death waiver for. I told him I probably wouldn't be coming back.

1.

I’d had a crush on John since we were kids, growing up in the same neighborhood. Unlike his reserved nature, I was a boisterous tomboy, shamelessly tagging along behind him. The adults always said I had the personality to be a cop. Eventually, I did join the force, albeit not the army.

John never liked me that way. He preferred the quiet, doe-eyed, delicate type. The girl he’d been crazy about dumped him when his startup was struggling, the same year his mom died of cancer. His business stalled, funding dried up, and he hit rock bottom. He started drinking heavily, stopped shaving, the whole nine yards.

Without a second thought, I sold the condo my parents had bought me and gave him all the money. “John,” I said, “take this. Use it.”

He was furious when he found out where the money came from. He yelled at me, said some really hurtful things. I’d been the target of his disdain my whole life, but that was the first time he’d made me cry. Between sobs, I wailed, “I believe in you! Your company will succeed, you'll make tons of money, you'll be a big-shot CEO! This is just an investment!”

Surprisingly, he hugged me. He said if the company took off, we’d get married.

2.

I’d never made an investment before, but my bet on John paid off big time. His startup was a success. He made a killing in the first year. He bought me a huge house, twice the size of the one I’d sold. He kept his promise and proposed. We got married. We had the house, the cars, the money. We were living the American dream.

But as his company grew, he traveled more and more, busier than I was chasing shoplifters and armed robbers. By our second anniversary, he wasn’t coming home regularly. By the sixth year, his company was about to go public. His phone calls went unanswered, and his clothes often smelled of someone else's perfume. My insomnia got worse.

“John,” I said, “we need to talk.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Sarah,” he said, “I’ve met someone. She’s… kind, understanding. I know this is unfair to you, but if you agree to a divorce, I’ll give you ten percent of the company.”

I slapped him. “John, you bastard! I love you so much, and this is how you repay me?”

He held me tight. “I’m grateful for you, for being there for me when I was at my lowest. But after six years, I still… I can’t. Sarah, let’s just get a divorce.”

3.

I was usually easygoing, but when it came to divorce, I was stubborn. I loved him too much. I was still hoping to win him back. I went to see the other woman, told her she was a homewrecker, that what she was doing was wron...