Housewife Gone Wild

Chapter 11

Yvonne froze. It was the first time she’d ever seen Jared and me fight. Before, whenever we argued, I always gave in first to keep the peace. But today was different. I didn’t apologize or back down.

“Daddy, Mommy, please stop.” Yvonne burst into tears. She clung to Jared’s arm, wiping her eyes. “I don’t want you to fight. Please don’t do this.”

Jared looked at me, his voice cold. “Work isn’t negotiable. You can keep your little hobbies, but you’re not walking away from our family.”

He bent down, lifted Yvonne into his arms, grabbed her tiny backpack, and walked out.

I didn’t shed a single tear. To be honest, I wasn’t even mad. I had seen this coming.

“Mrs. Holcomb, are you okay?” Wendy and Joyce asked, voices worried..

I smiled, “I’m fine. Sorry about the mess–can you clean it up?” Then I grabbed my purse and car keys and left.

I drove around aimlessly, the wind whipping through the open window, lifting my scarf. Behind my sunglasses, my eyes started to burn.

I married a rich guy and lived this shiny. To everyone else, I should’ve been carefree and happy. And maybe I was, once. But I’d got stuck in my head, slowly falling apart.

I thought after that fight, Jared wouldn’t ask me to lunch. But around eleven, while I was sitting in a café, sipping bitter coffee, he texted to ask where I was.

me to meet him at

up my makeup. If Jared wanted to

guys couldn’t even look me in the eyes. They got all polite, keeping their voices low. Some mumbled “hi,” and I

suit, over six feet tall, looking sharp. I was killing it–absolutely

sitting right beside Jared. She had on a gray blazer, shoulder–length

but her watch was a quarter–million–dollar piece, her

up at me but didn’t say

me to sit. Then everyone started chatting, digging into their food. Halfway through the meal, some guy came over to

side, his sharp mistress on the other. The other guys couldn’t

did him a favor, acting like I had no clue who Tracy really was. I smiled, worked the room, and kept

lot, a faint

1/2

tried to toast, Tracy stepped in. “Mr. Holcomb can’t drink more,” she said. “He’s

with some glib remarks and dropped the idea of

clout at the company, and everyone

like I didn’t catch it. Why bother? I was already done with this marriage. If she wanted that jerk Jared,

today, her face

and I got

clearly drunk, unable to stand steady. Suddenly, he leaned into me, his hands