Jonathan sank into the couch while Vanessa looked completely lost. She asked if I was saying that I owned the house now.
“Technically, yes,” I replied without emotion.
Jonathan grabbed my arm desperately and asked me to listen so we could talk about everything. I gently removed his hand and reminded him of what he told me earlier.
“I thought today was my last day here,” I said while raising an eyebrow.
He shook his head and tried to take back his words, but it was too late. I reminded him that he had introduced his mistress and told me to leave.
Vanessa became angry and demanded to know why he told her we were already separated. Jonathan snapped at her to stop talking, which only made things worse.
I leaned back in my chair and spoke quietly. “For three years, I believed I was building a future with my husband,” I said.
Jonathan lowered his head in silence. “But apparently I was just funding his new life with someone else,” I continued.
Vanessa crossed her arms and said that maybe I should have been a better wife. Jonathan looked horrified and tried to stop her, but I told him to let her speak.
She insisted that Jonathan deserved someone more exciting instead of someone who worked all the time. I nodded slowly and accepted her perspective without argument.
“That is fair,” I said before standing up.
“Now he is free to pursue that exciting life,” I added calmly.
Jonathan looked hopeful for a brief moment until I finished my statement. “Just not in my company,” I said clearly.
His face froze as confusion returned. I slid one final envelope across the table toward him.
“This is a notice from the board,” I explained.
He insisted that there was no board, but I corrected him immediately. “There is now,” I said.
Inside the envelope was an official termination document. “As majority owner, I held an emergency meeting this afternoon,” I explained.
Jonathan opened the paper with shaking hands and read through it carefully. “You fired me,” he whispered.
I nodded once and confirmed it. Patricia collapsed into a chair and accused me of destroying my own husband.
I looked at her calmly and pointed at Jonathan. “He destroyed himself,” I said without emotion.
Vanessa stepped away from him as if she no longer recognized the man she was with. She reminded him that he told her he was the chief executive officer.
Jonathan said nothing because at that moment he was no longer anything.
I picked up the champagne bottle that I had brought earlier, the same one meant for celebration. I walked toward the door and paused before leaving.
“Jonathan,” I said quietly.
He looked up at me completely broken. “Congratulations,” I added.
“For what,” he asked weakly.
I smiled slightly and gave him the truth he could not escape. “Today really is the beginning of a new life,” I said.
Then I opened the door slowly. “But unfortunately, it is not yours,” I finished before stepping outside.
I walked out of the house that now legally belonged to me, leaving behind everything that no longer had value.
