Death of a Marriage

Dear reader.

Have mercy on me in your comments.

I come from mainland Europe e.g. a non English speaking country.

All mistakes are mine

There is no sex in the story. Perhaps in a sequel?

===

Introductions first.

"I am Rick.

I am 46 years old. I am 6ft 3 inches and weigh about 185lbs.

What do I do for a living? I work for a major airline in the cargo division.

That entails morning, afternoon and night shifts.

I earn a decent paycheck because of the irregularity allowance.

I am in good shape. Running half marathons and working out keeps me fit.

Yes I'm married. 23 very happy years and 1 year of pure hell.

My wife is Karin. 5 feet 8 inches of beauty.

Karin works as a medical secretary at a hospital.

===

Last year two things happened.

First, the good news:

A few days ago I won the jackpot . A very tidy sum.

Second; the bad news.

My marriage was starting to fall apart.

It started with my wife, Karin, wanting separate accounts for our salary.

Karin wanted her independence. She wanted 'girls' nights out. Go to places and adventure. But without me.

Then the nagging started.

About my shifts. Me, working on the weekend and on holidays.

I never was around when needed.

After that it became my cooking. It was disgusting. So she went out for dinner.

I never had a complaint before.

I didn't participate in the household enough anymore. She made to do lists and dropped them on the kitchentable.

Now I'm not earning enough money.

After that the demands came.

Karin wanted a new car, but even when she had her own income and bank account I had to pay for it.

Same for the new kitchen, she'll never use it, but... The new sofa, bigger television and so on.

Last week I was at the end of my wits and started to seriously doubt myself.

It all changed when I returned early from my weekly 10 miles run.

It was too hot and too humid. It would be irresponsible to carry on.

When I entered the house from the backyard I heard Karin talking on the phone.

Then and there a bomb dropped.

She has a lover and was cheating on me.

Luckily I kept my wits and recorded the rest of the conversation with my phone.

Actually, at first, I was relieved. It wasn't me to blame. But I was mad as hell.

But how to react? I wasn't going to take this lying down.

I avoided being noted and went upstairs to the bathroom

I took a shower and changed into something comfortable and sat down.

It took a while before I started to function again.

Act normal.

That shouldn't be too difficult in this poisonous atmosphere.

The 'normal' being: not talking to each other except for the sneers and nagging from my wife.

What do I want?

I want out of this marriage. As soon as possible and without paying for her lifestyle nor for her lover.

I'll start to open an offshore bank account or at least an account Karin can't access.

So I had to wait to collect my prize until I had an offshore account.

Next. I needed a house. Preferably in another state.

Am I going to confront Karin?

Hell yes there will be a confrontation, but it will be on my terms.

I opened my laptop and started house hunting.

I decided on a location with a mellow climate.

In a little town surrounded by many forests I found a little house for rent with an option to buy.

Two bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a porch, some land.

The estate agency was delighted and eager to rent it out for 6 months. Renewable after 4 months. I paid up front for the first 6 months

That went well!

Next came the bank account.

That became much easier. Now I have an official address.

I planned a meeting with my supervisor.

I handed him my resignation. I told him that I will take my vacation and comp time immediately so I won't be back anymore.

The next day I left home at my usual time, but instead of driving to the airport I went for a leisurely breakfast.

At nine I was at the lottery office. I went through the mill.

Because the money went into an offshore account the Taxman wanted his share.

I parted gladly with the money because it ensured my privacy and freedom.

After all was finalized the account showed a very nice sum of 8 figures.

That done I went to a bank which also had a branch near my new address and opened an account too. I requested the credit card to be sent to the branch at my new address.

I asked the bank manager if he knew a place where I could access the internet.

They offered to let me use one of their meeting rooms.

Arriving in the room I started my trusted laptop. I initiated the firewall and the VPN.

Lastly, I connected to the wifi and the internet.

I transferred half of our savings into my new account and from the offshore account I initiated a monthly transfer so I wouldn't run out of money.

A visit to a lawyer took care of the divorce.

It was simple. I get half of the savings. No alimony and the rest is all hers.

The last item in my list is another car. Preferably a four wheel drive.

I found a used Mercedes 500G from a dealer nearby. An ugly car, but very reliable and not too big.

After some serious haggling I was the proud owner.

The dealer would keep it in the garage until I came to collect it.

Meanwhile it would be serviced.

Now it's time for the confrontation. I went home."

==

Karin arrived at their house to see Rick's car ,parked backwards, on the drive.

The trunk and the doors were open.

"What is Rick doing here at this time?" She wondered.

Karin got out of her car and went into the house.

She looked around. No Rick.

"Rick!" She yelled. "Where are you?"

No answer.

Just as she wanted to go upstairs Rick came down with a suitcase.

"Rick, what are you doing?"

"I'm packing." Rick answered curtly

"Packing? Why?

"Why should someone pack his things, one wonders.

Because I'm leaving? Is that an answer?

"Rick, please. For how long will you be gone?"

"Karin. I won't come back."

"What! You are leaving me? Why? For Pete's sake. Why?

Don't you love me anymore? What did I do to deserve this?"

"Karin, last year you treated me like shit.

I couldn't do anything right anymore. It was hell on earth for me.

You didn't want to talk. Your attitude towards me was and is extremely cold.

You separated our finances already. What did you think?

And on top of that I recollect a phone call you made with one of your friends.

From that call I concluded that I am not useful anymore and that you're about to trade me in for a better, younger model

So I took steps to remove myself from your life."

"But, but I don't want you to go. I love you. You can't leave me!"

Karin said with a voice hoarse from emotion.

"That, my dear, is not something for you to decide anymore."

"Where are you going?"

"That is not for you to be concerned about. I won't tell."

"But then I'll never see you again. I can't bear that thought! "

Karin cried. Tears running down her cheeks.

Rick looks at her. Unbelieve in his eyes.

"Karin, really. You already prepared for a separation, starting with the finances.

You were abusing me verbally and humiliating me wherever you could for months and months.

Now that was already almost too much.

When was the last time you touched me?

I don't mean sex, that last time is more than a year ago, but a hug or a kiss?

You acted like I was a leper with full blown aids.

But when I heard you yakking on that phone I had enough.

If you need to refresh your memory. I still have most of it recorded on my phone.

Let me."

Rick pulled out his phone and played the recording.

Karin went white as a sheet in seconds.

"I can explain! Please let me explain!"

"Noop. I don't want it explained. I'm done talking and trying.

It's quite evident that you are running around on me.

I have finished packing. It's time to leave this misery behind and start anew.

I gave everything in our relationship I had to give.

Obviously it wasn't enough because you went looking for a replacement.

I still love you and that will always be more or less. After all it was 23 good years. We raised two beautiful kids

But *will not be your safety net nor your punch ball while you are tramping around.

So this is farewell."

Karin collapsed to the floor. Moaning and sobbing.

"I can explain, I can explain everything.

Rick went out. Threw his last suitcase in the trunk of his car and drove to the dealer to collect his Mercedes and start a new life.

To be continued. Volunteers first.