**THREE MONTHS AFTER OUR COLLEGE REUNION,

MY HUSBAND ASKED ME TO LET HIM GO
SO HE COULD RETURN TO HIS FIRST LOVE
BECAUSE HE PITIED HER FOR BEING A SINGLE MOTHER RAISING ONE CHILD
HE NEVER REALIZED THAT HIS CHOICE
WOULD TURN ME INTO A SINGLE MOTHER RAISING FOUR CHILDREN
AND THREE YEARS LATER, THE ENDING FORCED HIM TO BOW HIS HEAD**

My name is Emily Parker. I am 38 years old.

My husband — or rather, my ex-husband — is David Parker.

We met in college. We dated for four years, were married for ten, and had four children together — two boys and two girls.
Our life wasn’t luxurious, but it was stable, warm, and — at least I believed — happy.

Until that college reunion.

1. THE REUNION THAT PLANTED THE SEEDS OF TRAGEDY

That night, David came home later than usual. He said he had attended a college reunion, met old classmates and professors. I didn’t think much of it, just reminded him to rest.

But from that day on, David changed.

He became quiet, distant. Sometimes, in the middle of dinner, he would suddenly sigh. At night, lying next to me, he would turn his back and stare at the window for hours.

When I asked, he only said:
— “I’m probably just tired.”

Three months passed.

And then, that evening, while I was busy preparing dinner for our family of six, David asked me to come into his study.

As soon as the door closed, he said flatly:

— “Emily, let’s get a divorce.”

I froze.

The ladle slipped from my hand and hit the floor with a sharp clang.

— “What did you just say?” — I whispered. — “Are you joking? Everything has been fine…”

— “I’m not joking.” — David interrupted, his voice cold and firm. — “I’ve thought about this carefully.”

2. THE REASON THAT LEFT ME NUMB

He sat down, fingers intertwined.

— “I met Laura again at the reunion. Do you remember her?”

I did.

Laura — David’s first love. The woman he loved deeply before me.

— “She’s… suffering.” — David continued. — “Her husband left her. She’s now a single mother, raising a child on her own. She’s struggling financially and her health isn’t good. She needs a man to protect her.”

My ears rang.

— “And I realized…” — he took a deep breath — “I still love her. We broke up back then only because of a misunderstanding.”

I stared at the man in front of me — the man I had lived with for ten years, the father of my four children — and felt a terrifying sense of unfamiliarity.

— “So you pity her for being a single mother raising one child?” — I asked, my voice trembling. — “You feel sorry for her?”

— “Yes.” — David nodded. — “She’s fragile and lonely. But you… you’re strong. You’re capable. Even without me, you’ll be fine.”

I laughed.

A bitter laugh, soaked in tears.

— “David,” — I said slowly — “you feel compassion for your ex because she struggles to raise one child, so you decide to turn your wife into a single mother raising four children?”

David lowered his head.

— “I know I’m wrong to you and the kids. But my heart has already chosen.”

3. THE DIVORCE CONDITION

I wiped my tears and took a deep breath.

— “Fine.” — I said. — “I’ll let you go be the hero you want to be.”

David looked up sharply.

— “Really?”

— “But I have one condition.”

— “Any condition. As long as you sign the papers quickly.”

I looked straight into his eyes.

— “You leave with nothing.”

David froze.

— “This house, the SUV, and $200,000 in savings — all of it will be transferred to me. You may only take your clothes and personal belongings.”

— “You’re… you’re being unreasonable.” — he stammered.

— “No.” — I replied coldly. — “I’m securing the future of your four children.”

After a night of consideration, David agreed.

Perhaps because he believed I was strong.
Perhaps because he thought I would be fine.

We divorced quietly.

4. THREE YEARS AS A SINGLE MOTHER

The next three years were the hardest years of my life.

Raising four children alone was brutal.

I returned to full-time work. By day, I was an employee. By night, I was a mother, a father, and a healer for my children.

There were nights when I collapsed in the bathroom, crying silently so the kids wouldn’t hear.

David… rarely visited.

He was busy with his “new family.”

5. THE UNEXPECTED ENDING THREE YEARS LATER

Three years after the divorce, on a rainy afternoon, I received a call from an unknown number.

— “Emily… it’s me.”

David’s voice was hoarse.

— “Can we meet?”

When I saw him again, I almost didn’t recognize him.

He was thinner, his clothes wrinkled, his eyes exhausted.

He sat across from me and lowered his head.

— “Laura… left me.”

I remained silent.

— “She went back to her ex-husband.” — he gave a bitter smile. — “The child… isn’t mine.”

I asked softly:

— “Then why are you here?”

David looked up, his eyes red.

— “I was wrong, Emily. I lost everything… Can I come back?”

I looked at him for a long time.

Then I smiled — a calm smile I could never have managed three years earlier.

— “No.”

— “My family is fine now.” — I said gently. — “My children are fine. And I… no longer need you.”

David lowered his head and broke down in tears.

As for me, for the first time in three years, I felt truly free.