After Five Years Of Marriage

7| Change in attitude

Dylan smiled after his phone call with Rosie ended, and he resumed his office work for the rest of the day as he awaited the night to fall and to close by 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, Rosie was in her house, and she got a phone call from her boyfriend named Frederick Joseph. As he spoke to her over the phone, he said, "Hello, babe…"

"Hi, sweetheart," Rosie replied, as she knew that Frederick was aware of her relationship with Dylan and that she was cheating on him with a married man. She had explained to Frederick before that she was doing all this for him and to help him get the money that he needed to establish himself away from Dylan.

"Have you gotten the money from him, babe?" Frederick impatiently asked Rosie over the phone.

She replied, "No, babe… You know that it would take us some time, as I don't want Dylan to suspect a thing between us, or that I don't love him too..."

"Hmm, but he's sleeping with you, babe, and what if he disturbs my baby that is growing in your womb? Can't you just ask him for the money straightforwardly, or tell him to lend you the money instead, and you will give it to him later?" Frederick asked in a mean voice, as he really needed the money for a new business project that he was working on.

Rosie replied, "No, Fred… Dylan would know, and I promise you, I'm always careful with him..."

"Hmm. I'm not happy about this, babe… Just get the money from him fast and do away with him too. Unless you want us to break up so that you can continue sleeping with him in your home, and don't forget that I have the videos too. It's better that you get into action quickly and ask him for the money first, or else I will threaten him myself with the s*x tape of you both."

Rosie gulped hard and told Frederick, "Not to worry, babe, I will see what I can do fast to get the money from him..."

"Better," Frederick replied, and the phone call finally ended.

Rosie sighed as she stared at her phone screen in silence, wondering how she would get such a huge amount of money from Dylan that Frederick was requesting from her hands.

"Wouldn't Dylan suspect me?" Rosie wondered.

---

However, Jessica was at home as the sun had gone down. She waited for Dylan to arrive home while she was in her living room watching television.

She picked up her telephone and called Dylan's phone line again to know if he was coming home and what she should prepare for him, as she saw that the time was already after 4 p.m.

Jessica knew that Dylan would soon close from his office, as he usually closed by 5 p.m., and sometimes 6 p.m. So she called Dylan to know what she should prepare for him.

"Hello, babe," Jessica spoke first in relief as soon as Dylan picked up her call.

"What is it, Jessica? Why are you calling me now?" his deep cold voice asked her.

Jessica gulped hard, as she hadn't expected Dylan to sound so cold and distant to her again on the phone. She asked him, "What would you like me to prepare for you, Dylan? When are you coming home?"

Jessica was so eager to hear her husband's response to her, but the phone call went silent for a while. After a moment of silence, Dylan finally replied, "I didn't ask you to prepare any food for me, Jessica, and how about the divorce paper that I gave to you yesterday?"

"Dylan…" Jessica tried to speak, as she didn't know what to say to him.

She heard him respond, "Don't bother to sign it again, as I will prepare another one. And that reminds me, I won't be coming home tonight as I have somewhere important to be, so don't bother preparing anything for dinner. How about Caleb and Nina? Are they there with you, or are they sleeping?"

Jessica turned teary and immediately asked Dylan, "Who's the new woman in your life, Dylan? Last night, you came back home drunk with a red lipstick mark on your lips, and today… you're telling me that you won't be at home at all? Why Dylan?"

Jessica was crying, and Dylan sighed and replied to her, "Just get ready for the divorce papers, as there are some errors with that one. The person that I asked to prepare it for me forgot to add how many shares we will both share from our staying apart from each other."

"Don't tell me about divorce again, Dylan. Remember when I accepted to marry you, I told you then that I didn't want my marriage to crash, and I would do everything to make you happy. Why are you beginning to treat me this way? Why are you cheating on me? What has your new woman done for you that I haven't done? You complained that I'm fat, and how is it my fault? It's not in my genes to become fat, but the situation that you put me into, to become a full-time housewife, and yet after all I did for you, you still want to divorce me, Dylan? How could you?" Jessica was crying seriously again, as hot tears flowed down from her eyes to her cheeks, rendering Dylan speechless, as he couldn't answer her questions either, as her words stung a pang in his heart.

"Answer me, Dylan? What did I ever do wrong to offend you? I love you very much. I did everything to make you happy, and yet you choose to be unhappy by cheating on me?"

"Enough, Jessica! That's enough! And I appreciate all that you have done for me, and you're still doing in taking care of our kids, but I'm no longer interested in this marriage. So it is best that you move on too," Dylan replied in a cold mean voice, and Jessica asked him crazily, "Just like that? Hahaha."

Jessica laughed hysterically like she was going crazy, and Dylan got really worried about her.

"It's easy for you to say, Dylan, because you're already cheating on me, and you really want to cheat. So you see nothing wrong about all that you've just said to me. I cannot accept other men out there, not because I don't see other handsome men that are better off than you, but because I love you, Dylan, and because I wish you well and accepted you.

I love you because I truly do, and I'm not just saying the words to you. I can't cheat on you because I truly love you… But you choose to treat me this way after everything. Just know that I won't accept the divorce, and you can keep cheating on me if you want to continue, but this is my matrimonial home, and I won't exit it for another woman to come and occupy it. Not in this life that we live and breathe, Dylan, so forget about me divorcing you and come back home."

"No, Jessica, just get ready to sign the divorce paper tomorrow like I have said. Bye." Dylan quickly ended the phone call with his wife, and Jessica looked at her phone screen in silence as she was still finding it hard to believe that her once lovely husband had turned into something strange to her. And he saw no wrong or errors in divorcing her.

Their two kids were fast asleep in their separate bedrooms, and Jessica stayed alone in the living room waiting for Dylan to return home. She really didn't want to believe all that he had said to her on the phone, as she believed that he was just lying to her and that he would soon be on his way home.

A few hours later, Jessica stood up from the living room couch, tired, as she was no longer interested in watching the movie. She switched off the television and went to the kitchen to prepare her dinner alone as she awaited Dylan's return home.

Meanwhile, after Dylan had ended the phone call with Jessica, he called a restaurant phone line and placed an order for two takeaway meals that were expensive and well garnished to suit the owner's taste, as well as to appease the appetite of the owner too.

Dylan waited for the meals to arrive at his office, and shortly after he was through placing the food order online, his office assistant knocked and walked into his office.

Dylan stared at his office assistant named Bright Kingston who had walked into his office. He asked, "What do you want, Bright?"

"Sir, it's about the new goods launching date this weekend, as you're yet to sign the launching date for the new products that are to be distributed to the market."

Dylan looked at Bright's face angrily, and Bright didn't understand what he had asked wrongly in reminding his boss about their new products that needed Dylan to sign first. It seemed like Dylan had totally forgotten that they had to launch the new phones in an advertisement to create awareness for their customers on the importance of the new models and their differences from their old products.

Dylan knew that if he were to attend the launching ceremony of his new products, then he would have to attend the launching ceremony with Jessica by his side. Now that he had told Jessica that he wanted to divorce her, would Jessica still accept to appear at the phone launching ceremony on Saturday, as there were only two days left?

"Sir…" Bright tried to speak again, as the launching party had already been scheduled, and many of their top partners and even some celebrities in their state had been invited to attend the launching ceremony of their new products. Bright Kingston couldn't understand why his boss wasn't responding happily like he usually did enthusiastically whenever they were about to launch a new product.

"No problem with that. I think the launch date is this weekend, right?" Dylan finally asked Bright as he looked up at Bright's face squarely.

"Yes, boss, it's this Saturday," Bright replied to him.

"No problem, get all the necessary arrangements ready, as I have to be somewhere now, and you should let me know about the new additions to the market products too," Dylan said as he stood up from his office seat to leave.

"Okay, boss," Bright answered, and he was standing in the guest seat across from Dylan. He saw that Dylan was already leaving his office too.

Bright couldn't understand what had changed in his boss, as he had been working for Dylan since eight years ago when Dylan first established his company.

No matter how Bright tried to think about Dylan having marital issues with Jessica, he knew that Jessica was a good woman. She hardly complained about anything, nor was she a social media person, as she hardly posted anything online. Just like her two older brothers, they didn't usually post or comment on anything, despite having millions of followers.

Bright shook his head as he finally exited Dylan's office, wondering where his boss was rushing to? Dylan wouldn't be rushing home like that if he was going to see Jessica and his two children.

Bright knew that Dylan had been behaving grumpy since the previous months and weeks before, and all of a sudden Dylan looked very happy and was rushing home too?

"Hmm," Bright sighed as he shook his head and walked away. He was a 30-year-old black man too, and he muttered to himself, "Hmm, if that's how marriage is, then it's better I remain single and tell Anita that I still need some time to think about us settling down as a couple."

Bright finally locked up his office door and went home in his car.