The Ex-Husband’s Second Chance at Love

After finding out my husband was cheating on me, I demanded a divorce without hesitation. I fought for every penny in court and made sure my husband walked away with nothing. I never expected that after the divorce, I’d reach the peak of my life instead. I had a car, a house, no parents, and no husband. At twenty-five, I had officially reached the top. Who could’ve guessed that after partying all night at a bar, I’d wake up the next morning and find my ex-husband’s divorce papers on my bed? I answered the phone. “Did you freaking sleep with me again?!” Ethan sneered. “Don’t accuse me of something you can’t prove.” “Thanks to you, I’m homeless and starting over from scratch. Where would I sleep with you? How would I even sleep with you? “You’re seriously the woman with the biggest mouth and the least evidence I’ve ever met.” I was speechless, but I wasn’t scared of him at all. “Your divorce papers were left on my bed.” “Let’s make one thing clear. This house in Rosewood Heights was my premarital property. You have no right to claim any part of it!” I pointed furiously at the assets listed under my name on the judge’s computer. The man in front of me widened his eyes. He was fairly handsome, but his twisted expression ruined the effect. “Avery, you hid a house from me?!” “Don’t be ridiculous! It’s my premarital property. You had no right to know about it! And I didn’t have any income after we got married. I bought it with the money I saved before our wedding!” “You’ve got to be kidding me! This place was bought after we got married. We should each get half. Stop arguing and sign!” I didn’t give Ethan a single chance to interrupt. My voice echoed through the courtroom before bouncing straight back into his ears. The judge took a quiet sip of bottled water. This was a private matter between husband and wife. His only job was to witness the proceedings. He knew Ethan, but he didn’t dare say a word. The previous judge had been forced to recuse himself simply because he knew Ethan. Avery had apparently filed the motion herself. Ethan’s face turned green with rage. He pointed at me several times, but couldn’t form a sentence. After struggling for a while, he finally spat out, “You’re completely unreasonable!” “I just remembered something!” I cut him off. “Listen to this recording. When we got married, you promised that if we ever divorced, all the property would go to me and you’d leave with nothing. I have proof!” “You recorded me?! Is there no trust left between us?” I crossed my arms and glared at him. “That’s called leaving a paper trail.” Ethan took a deep breath and accepted his fate. He picked up the pen and signed, thinking, What the hell was I thinking, marrying a legal bandit? I drove the brand-new luxury car Ethan had bought during our marriage with all the windows down, thinking about my twenty-five years of failure. When I was five, my father ran away with his mistress after my mother fell from a great height and became paralyzed from the waist down, losing the ability to work. When I was seven, my mother couldn’t bear living with her disability anymore and took her own life. When I was twelve, my grandmother, who had raised me all those years, died in a car accident. I became a child nobody wanted. Fortunately, the people around me changed like flowing water, while my life stayed as tough and resilient as wild grass. With financial aid and meals from kind neighbors, I managed to make it to college. During my junior year, I met my future ex-husband, Ethan. He treated me wonderfully. We did everything together, and eventually, getting married felt like the most natural thing in the world. After the wedding, I began living like a rich man’s wife. I thought I’d finally escaped my miserable life and become a princess. Who could’ve guessed that at twenty-five—this year—everything would collapse again? Claire sent photos and videos to my phone showing my husband entering a hotel with another woman. After questioning him and trying to test his story, I filed for divorce without hesitation. I’d always been alone. Becoming single again didn’t scare me. A light drizzle began to fall outside. I felt the rain brush gently across my skin and looked at the Mercedes emblem on the steering wheel. Then I thought about all the assets in my name and burst out laughing. A man had betrayed me, so I simply didn’t want him anymore. The only two things in this world that would never betray me were money and knowledge. With that thought, I stepped on the gas. The car shot forward like an arrow. My new life, here I come!I held the phone farther away and calmly listened to the person on the other end scream. “Avery! Have you lost your mind? Ethan was such a rich, successful man, and you actually divorced him?! What were you thinking?!” I bragged about it to everyone I met. “He left with nothing.” Claire went silent for two seconds before shrieking again. “Avery, you finally got it! Good girl! Good girl! You understand that you can’t sacrifice yourself just to spare someone else!” I sat in the luxury car Ethan and I had bought during our marriage and opened a bottle of ’82 Château Lafite. I leaned back comfortably. “So? Are you coming to Velvet Room or not?” Velvet Room was a classy bar. Every now and then, they held special events with wild pole dancing. I’d originally planned to have a few drinks and talk about life with my friends. After all, I had no elderly parents to care for and no children to raise. I had no burdens and several million dollars in assets. My future was bright and beautiful. But the bar I visited only a few times a year had, of all things, decided to host an open dance night. With the music pounding and Claire enthusiastically egging me on in the dazzling atmosphere, I completely let myself go. The dance floor was packed. The music was wild, and I kept shouting for more drinks, determined not to leave until I was completely drunk. When I noticed no one was onstage, and fueled by all the alcohol, I pulled off my crop top, shoved through the crowd, stuck my butt in the air, and climbed onto the stage. Claire was terrified that any party might become boring. The moment she saw me go up, she whistled from below. “Avery! You’re incredible! I love you!” The crowd watched me grab the pole and began cheering. Their shouts rolled over me like waves. I was starting to lose all sense of reality. I shouted at the DJ to play the most intense song he had and wrapped myself around the pole. Before long, the entire area beneath the stage was packed with people. I glanced over the crowd and thought I saw Ethan. I shook my head and erased his face from my mind. We were divorced. Why was I thinking about him? He would never come to a place like this. I drank until I was completely wasted. After the wild night, I woke up in a hotel. The first thing I saw was white sheets and expensive hotel furnishings. My mind was blank. I suspected someone had slept with me, but I had no proof. I shot upright and gasped. “Oh, hell!” I pulled open the covers. My clothes were perfectly intact, but a little red booklet beside me sent me into deep thought. Divorce papers? Mine? There was a bottle of water beside the bed. I unscrewed the cap and took a sip. Memories from the previous night came rushing back. How the hell did I get so into pole dancing? Had I really seen Ethan? Was someone trying to take me away? “What are you doing?” “…Her husband.” “I could say I’m her husband too. Kid, don’t ruin my fun. If you don’t want to get beaten up, get lost!” The man across from him was slurring badly. He had probably been drinking just as much as I had. Ethan smiled. It was a polite, clean smile. I remembered my junior year of college, when he had invited me out. We’d stayed out late, and on our way back to campus, a few punks had tried to start trouble with us. Ethan had looked like a helpless scholar, so they decided he would be easy prey. He had stood in front of me and given them that same gentle smile. In a calm voice, he asked, “Are you moving or not?” The punks had continued acting tough. Ethan smiled and rolled up his sleeves. Three minutes later, all three of them were on the ground. That was the night I decided I was going to marry him. I shook my head, annoyed with myself for overthinking. I must have really been drunk. The last thing I remembered was Ethan smiling. But the divorce papers were here. They had to belong to either me or Ethan. They couldn’t belong to someone else. I was furious, and that usually meant trouble. I called Ethan. The moment he answered, I shouted, “Did you freaking sleep with me again?!” There was confusion mixed into Ethan’s cold laugh. “???” After recovering, he replied with perfect logic and complete composure. “Thanks to your kindness, I’m homeless and starting over from scratch. Where would I sleep with you? How would I sleep with you? You’re seriously the woman with the biggest mouth and the least evidence I’ve ever met.” I was speechless, but not intimidated. “Your divorce papers were left on my bed.” There was silence on the other end. Then his voice came through the phone. “Damn it!”