During the last couple of years of my life have been a constant struggle to balance between my job and my home. Being a project manager at a huge bank put a lot of pressure on me, and at home, I didn’t receive any help from my husband, who barely moved from the sofa when he wasn’t at work.
That day, I stayed at the office late. All I could think of was getting a shower and going to bed, but the moment I opened the door, I hear my husband, Aiden, yell, “Where have you been so far? I’m starving, make me something to eat.”
This wasn’t the first time my husband had acted so demanding.
I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, but there wasn’t much food so I told Aiden we should buy some.
“So, go to the store. I’ll wait here,” he said without even looking at me.
I grabbed the wallet and went to the store. Being tired as I was, I could barely walk around the aisles. I thought about the way Aiden treated me. Honestly, I couldn’t remember when was the last time he was nice to me. I wondered if he ever was. Was I so in love with him that I let him treat me with such disrespect? I didn’t know what to think. What I knew was that I was starting to become tired of the life I had.
I returned home and prepared dinner. My husband ate and didn’t even bother to wash his own plate.
The following morning, I felt sick. My throat was sore and I could barely move.
Instead of “good morning,” Aiden greeted me with the words, “You overslept, now I need to go to work without having breakfast.” He then slammed the door behind him.
I felt dizzy so I called in sick, had a cup of tea with some lemon and returned to bed.
No long after I heard the front door open. “Get out, I think she’s home…” I heard Aiden whispering, “It won’t work today.”
A woman’s voice then asked about their next meeting to what my husband replied, “Hush, she’s asleep, you are going to wake her up. I’m gonna give you a call later, now go,” he said.
As I heard the woman’s steps getting out of the house, Aiden’s followed.
I forced myself to get out of bed. Without giving it a second thought, I started packing my husband’s belongings inside of a bunch of boxes.
I then changed the locks of the apartment that belonged to me and waited to see Aiden’s face when he returned home.
As expected, he struggled to open the door and wondered why his keys didn’t work. I let him get inside, but the sight left him in shock.
“What’s all this?” he asked. I told him I heard him with that other woman in the morning. I was filing for divorce because I had it enough of being treated as someone not worth any love and attention. The time when Aiden treated me like his maid and cook ended at that moment.
He was furious and started threatening me, but I wasn’t afraid of him. His words meant nothing to me. I finally found my peace and learned to respect myself enough not to be with someone like Aiden.