After Nine Divorces, I'm Done

I marry the same woman nine times, and she divorces me nine times for her first love. During our first divorce, I snap and throw all her luggage out of the house. By the fourth, I'm begging her to leave her bags behind, terrified that once she walks out, she'll never come back. When the eighth divorce comes around, I quietly help her pack because I'm too afraid of making her angry to resist. My anguish, my pleading, and my desperate attempts to please her always earn me the same result. She keeps her promise to remarry me every single time, only to divorce me again just as she always does. This time, I pack my own bags and leave on my own. What I don't tell her is that one month from now, I'll be gone for good. Chapter 1 "We'll get remarried in a month." Teresa Sloan took the divorce agreement from me as casually as she'd done every other time, offering a few reassuring words as she did. I felt nothing as I signed the papers. I didn't even have the desire to respond to her promise. Teresa frowned, apparently displeased by my silence, and repeated herself, "Andrew." "Got it." I stopped packing and turned to look at her with a resigned expression. As one of the country's most prominent businesswomen, Teresa was known for keeping her word. Every time we divorced, she made sure to tell me exactly when we would get remarried. She'd only ever lied to me once. It was at our wedding, when she'd held me in her arms with tears in her eyes and said, "Now that we're married, I never want us to be apart again." Apparently, women could lie, too. My reaction seemed to catch her off guard. After all, every time I'd signed the divorce papers in the past, I'd completely broken down and begged her not to leave me. "Then, I guess I'll move out again this time—" Teresa was still trying to find the right words when I interrupted her. "Don't bother. I'll move out. I've already packed most of my things." Surprise flashed across her face. The first time we divorced, I'd been so devastated that I'd thrown all her belongings out of the house. By the fourth divorce, I'd begged her to leave her things behind because I was terrified that once she walked out the door, she'd never come back. By the eighth, I'd learned to pack her bags without a fuss, afraid that even the slightest complaint might upset her. I'd lost it, begged her to stay, and eventually learned to do whatever she wanted. And what had I gotten in return? Teresa had kept her promise to remarry me every single time, only to divorce me again as if nothing had changed. Three days ago, she'd given me a gift. It wasn't particularly expensive, but she'd clearly put some thought into choosing it. It was a watch I'd had my eye on for a long time. I'd forced myself to smile, even though my heart ached. Throughout our marriage, Teresa had barely shown me any affection. Whenever she went out of her way to do something nice for me, I knew it was only a matter of time before she hurt me again. That night, I couldn't sleep, so I secretly checked her phone while she wasn't looking. The conversation pinned at the top was with Hansel Carter, her first love. "I'm coming home." Those three words from Hansel had sealed the fate of my ninth marriage to Teresa. I tapped on another conversation, this time between Teresa and her best friend. "Andrew is a really good guy. Don't divorce him again this time. Besides, didn't you say you were going to get over Hansel?" Teresa's reply was brief. "I tried. I can't." After countless sleepless nights spent nursing a broken heart, I finally felt a wave of freedom wash over me. I shook my head, pulling myself out of the memory, and finished packing while Teresa watched me with an unreadable expression. As I picked up my luggage and headed for the door, I was already making plans to leave Yelby for good. Then, Teresa called after me, her tone serious. "Andrew, we'll get remarried in a month." I didn't answer. I simply waved to let her know I'd heard her. What a coincidence. I'd booked my flight out of the country for exactly one month from now. … After moving out, I settled into the apartment Mom had left me. Just as she'd done after every previous divorce, Teresa never once reached out to me. I had 20 days left before my departure. That day, I was shopping at the mall with my childhood friend, Stephen Reed. He'd been ranting about Teresa, but after a few minutes, he cautiously brought up something else. Chapter 2 "I saw Teresa and Hansel's vacation pictures on social media." I fell silent, suddenly remembering how I'd spent every previous divorce obsessively checking Teresa's and Hansel's social media accounts, practically torturing myself with their updates. But I hadn't done that this time. When I didn't respond, Stephen asked with concern, "Don't tell me you two got divorced again." Of everyone in our social circle, Stephen was the only one who knew that Teresa and I had been married and divorced multiple times. "Yeah, we're divorced." He sighed and spent the next several minutes trying to comfort me. I smiled, just about to tell him about my plans to move abroad, when we unexpectedly ran into Teresa outside a jewelry store. "Andrew," she called out to me almost instinctively. Meanwhile, Hansel was holding her hand. He greeted me with a polite smile. "Hey, Andrew. Are you shopping for a watch, too?" He was certainly handsome. It was no wonder Teresa had never gotten over him. In the past, whenever I ran into Hansel, I'd glare at him as though he were my worst enemy. Teresa gave me a long look before instinctively moving in front of him, shielding him with her body. I stopped Stephen before he could do anything rash and answered with a smile, "I've got something to celebrate, so I figured I'd treat myself." Stephen immediately chimed in, "That's right! He's celebrating finally getting rid of a lousy wife, and wouldn't you know it, some other guy has already volunteered to take her off his hands. If that isn't good news, I don't know what is!" I kicked him, although I couldn't help agreeing with every word. Teresa parted her lips to speak, but when she saw Stephen and me laughing, she ultimately said nothing. The sales associate quickly picked up on the tension between us and called over a colleague so we could be helped separately. Stephen quietly told me that while Teresa was browsing the store, she kept getting distracted and glancing in our direction. "Think your ex-wife is starting to regret losing you?" he asked. "Maybe." I figured she was just feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, sir, but that particular model is sold out." Stephen had pointed to a watch in a picture, hoping to buy it, only to be disappointed. I glanced at the picture and immediately recognized the watch. It was the same model Teresa had given me three days before our divorce. In the past, I'd treasured every little kindness Teresa showed me. Even the smallest gift from her would've meant the world to me. But this time, I took the watch out of my bag and handed it to Stephen. "Here. You can have mine." Just then, Teresa and Hansel happened to walk past us. Perhaps I was imagining things, but I could've sworn Teresa turned around several times, frowning as she looked at the watch in Stephen's hand. Stephen tried to refuse, but I insisted on giving it to him. After all, it was nothing more than a consolation gift from someone who'd hurt me. It didn't mean anything anymore. Besides, the woman who'd given it to me was now my ex-wife. … I'd thought that encounter at the mall would be the last time I ever saw Teresa. With only ten days left before my departure, I submitted my resignation to my boss. Later that day, I was taking a walk around my apartment complex, feeling a little melancholy, when someone standing in the shadows beneath the trees startled me. I was about to scream when the person spoke first. "Honey, it's me." Teresa stepped out of the shadows and grabbed my hand tightly. I pulled free and immediately backed away. She lowered her gaze to the hand I'd pulled away, looking somewhat hurt. "What are you doing here? You could've at least told me you were coming," I said, making no effort to hide my irritation. "I was in the neighborhood." Something flickered in Teresa's eyes. "I was hoping to surprise you." I was momentarily speechless, but she had a point. In the past, having Teresa come to see me of her own accord would've been a dream come true. I'd practically prayed for something like that to happen. Under the moonlight, she studied me with a slightly bewildered expression. I sighed, feeling a sudden urge to tell her the truth about my plans to leave. But I ultimately held back, unwilling to create any unnecessary complications. "Shouldn't you be spending time with Hansel instead of coming here? I wouldn't want him getting the wrong idea." I tried to reason with her as politely as possible. "What's there to misunderstand? Nothing is going on between us," Teresa lied. I sighed, but I didn't bother calling her out on it. Chapter 3 "Whether there's anything going on between you two or not, I'm still your ex-husband," I retorted. It didn't matter that we'd gotten married nine times, only to end up divorced again and again. The fact remained that I was her ex-husband. Silence settled between us, and a strong gust of wind swept through the night, carrying my words away. After a long moment, Teresa raised her head and tried to explain. "I know I was wrong to divorce you, but I couldn't let people accuse Hansel of having an affair with a married woman." I took a couple of steps back, growing increasingly irritated. I couldn't understand her reasoning, and frankly, I didn't want to. She kept insisting there was nothing going on between them, yet she was so concerned about protecting Hansel's reputation that she'd divorced me to spare him the accusations. What about me? Was I supposed to just accept being divorced nine times? "I'm sure you've thought everything through, Ms. Sloan. I have nothing more to say." I lowered my head and avoided her eyes. Teresa opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something else, but her phone rang. It was Hansel. I glanced at his name on her screen and said, "You should go be with him. We can talk about us some other time." Teresa looked at me for several seconds before finally walking away and answering the call. I returned to my apartment and shut the door firmly behind me, as though I could lock everything that had just happened, along with everything that had happened before, firmly in the past. … Time passed quickly. Once I'd finished handing over my responsibilities at work, my departure date drew closer and closer. With no job to worry about and Teresa no longer in my life, I cut myself off from my social circle in Yelby and found that life was much more enjoyable. Only Stephen, who now knew about my plans to move abroad, occasionally shared the latest gossip with me. For instance, after our encounter at the mall, Teresa and Hansel had apparently gotten into a huge argument, prompting several of their mutual friends to try to patch things up between them. On another occasion, Hansel had snapped at Teresa during a party, leaving her standing alone in a corner for a long time, seemingly lost in thought. I listened to everything Stephen told me, feeling neither sadness nor satisfaction. In the past, whenever I'd heard that Teresa and Hansel had fought, I'd immediately seized the opportunity to beg her to remarry me ahead of schedule. But this time, I didn't even feel like entertaining her messages. Even when Stephen casually mentioned that Teresa had been asking him how I was doing, I felt no urge to contact her. What surprised me even more was that Teresa had actually started calling me herself. I repeatedly declined her calls, to the point that even Stephen, who was having coffee with me at the time, thought I was being cruel. "Is that how women work? The more you push them away, the more they want you?" Stephen joked. I kicked him under the table. Then, he couldn't help sighing again. "Still, Teresa used to treat you pretty well." His words brought back memories of the past, and my thoughts drifted to the time when I'd first met her. I was still in college back then. Teresa was only six years older than me and happened to be one of Mom's business partners. When Mom went abroad, she'd asked her to look after me. She was already a prominent businesswoman in Yelby, but she indulged me in just about everything, treating me like a younger brother. When I sprained my ankle during a track meet, she'd rushed onto the track and helped me off in front of everyone. When I failed an exam, she'd called me an idiot before picking up my textbooks and tutoring me herself. And when a company cheated me out of 1,600 dollars in wages during an internship, she'd pulled every string she could to put the company out of business. I couldn't say exactly when I'd fallen in love with the woman who treated me like her little brother. All I knew was that I'd grown increasingly attached to her, and I never hesitated to show her just how much I needed her. Teresa was so accustomed to spoiling me that she never noticed anything unusual until I finally confessed my feelings to her. Her expression shifted before she let out a sigh. "There's someone else I like." That was the first time I learned about Hansel, a man who looked a little like me. My confession had ended in complete rejection, but it was only the beginning of my nine years of heartbreak with Teresa. During those years, Hansel returned from abroad. He and Teresa got together, fought, struggled to make their relationship work, and eventually broke up. One night, while I was drinking with Teresa to make her feel better after the breakup, I foolishly confessed my feelings to her for the second time. She responded with a kiss, and we slept together. I was her first, and before long, we were married. But then, Hansel came to Yelby, and Teresa asked me for a divorce for the first time. Chapter 4 After so many divorces and remarriages that we'd gone through, I finally stopped hating Hansel and started resenting Teresa instead. If she'd only ever seen me as Hansel's replacement, why had she spoiled me so much? Why had she gone so far as to promise me forever at our wedding? If she'd ever loved me, how could she keep hurting me with one divorce after another? And if she'd stopped loving me altogether, why did she keep coming back to marry me again? I should've realized a long time ago that our marriage had never meant what I thought it did. Teresa had only married me to get back at Hansel. I pushed those memories aside and interrupted Stephen's rambling before glancing down at my phone. I was leaving tomorrow, and I felt genuinely happy. In another 24 hours, even being Teresa's ex-husband would be a thing of the past. After that, we'd have nothing to do with each other. To make sure she couldn't interfere with my plans, I decided to move out of my apartment early and spend my last night at a hotel. What I hadn't expected was that Hansel would be the first to call me. This time, he sounded downright hostile. "Andrew, I had no idea you could be so vicious when it comes to women." I drew a sharp breath. I'd spent years swallowing my pride and putting up with everything Teresa and Hansel had put me through, only to have him accuse me of being the cruel one. "You knowingly went after a married woman, Hansel. If that's all you've got to say, do us both a favor and shut the hell up." I saw no reason to be polite anymore. If he thought I was vicious, I might as well live up to his expectations. "I don't know what you did, but I'll admit you've managed to get the upper hand this time," Hansel continued, ignoring my sarcasm. "Teresa married you nine times, and every single time, she only did it to make me jealous." I lowered my head. Of course, I knew that. "But so what? Whenever I come back, she divorces you without a second thought. I figured this time would be no different, but..." Hansel fell silent for a moment before bringing up something I'd been deliberately trying not to think about. "But this time, she keeps picking fights with me. It's ridiculous, really. She says I'm the one she loves most, but I know better. Somehow, you've managed to make her fall for you, even though you were only ever supposed to be my replacement." I couldn't bring myself to believe him, although his words left me with mixed feelings. Still, I couldn't resist taking a jab at him. "What, are you scared?" Hansel suddenly burst into arrogant laughter. "Scared? Andrew, I asked Teresa to marry me. Why don't you take a guess? Do you think she said yes?" I sighed and hung up. I'd always known just how much Hansel meant to Teresa. Back when she'd rushed onto the track to help me after I sprained my ankle, I'd noticed a pendant around her neck engraved with Hansel's name. When she'd tutored me, the textbook she'd brought had an elegant leather cover with the name "Hans" written on it. And when she'd put that fraudulent company out of business for cheating me out of my wages, she'd used an investment fund called the Hanresa Corp. Teresa had been such a huge part of my youth that nearly every memory I had revolved around her. But Hansel was the man she'd never been able to forget. That night, even though I knew Teresa wouldn't call, I kept staring at my phone. I sat on the hotel couch and watched it until morning. Today was supposed to be the day we got married for the tenth time. Instead, I was leaving. At 7:00 am, I took a cab to the airport. Teresa hadn't sent me a single message, so I opened our chat and deleted her contact. By 8:00 am, I'd cleared security. She still hadn't called, so I found her number and blocked it. At 9:00 am, I boarded the plane and began deleting every photo and message on my phone that had anything to do with Teresa. Just then, my phone rang. It was Stephen. I answered the call, but instead of hearing his voice, I heard Teresa's. She sounded frantic and on the verge of tears. "Honey, where are you?"