I Asked for Divorce After My Husband Raised a FishChapter 1
After my husband, Jonathan Beckett’s childhood sweetheart, Pauline Morris, returned to the country and discovered he already had a child with me, she created a storm. Not long after, drunk on a mountaintop, she slipped and fell to her death.
The news broke my husband. For three days and nights, Jonathan sat outside the morgue, refusing to return home.
Everyone whispered that he must hate me now—that sooner or later, he would demand a divorce.
After all, I was nothing but the compromise he had made under family pressure. The one he truly cherished, the one who had lived in his heart all along, was Pauline.
But instead of distancing himself, my husband changed.
My husband became gentle and attentive. He even handed me his entire paycheck without hesitation.
This was the same man who had always loathed hassle, yet to please me, he asked a friend to fly in an eel from Europe and raised it in a tank in our living room.
And then, during a family dinner with both sides gathered, I calmly dropped the news: I wanted a divorce.
The table fell into stunned silence. Even my mother scolded me, accusing me of not knowing how to count my blessings.
Jonathan’s eyes reddened as he clutched my wrist.
His voice broke. “What did I do wrong? Tell me, and I’ll fix it.”
I pulled my hand free, meeting my husband’s gaze with calm finality.
“It’s because you’ve been doing everything so perfectly that I want a divorce,” I said.
——
“Angela, are you out of your mind?” Jonathan’s voice was hoarse and low, his knuckles whitening with the force of his grip.
“Our son just turned one. You promised you’d be there to watch him grow up. Have you forgotten that already?”
The clatter of bowls and chopsticks filled the room.
My mother-in-law, Sandra Beckett, quickly set down her ladle, grabbed my hand, and pleaded through tears.
“Angela, hasn’t Jonathan been good enough to you lately? He gave you his whole paycheck, and comes straight home after work to care for the baby. You can’t make trouble like this.”
“Mother, I’m not making trouble. This marriage has to end," I said evenly.
When she saw the resolve in my eyes, her hand froze midair. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, but no words came.