Driven to a New Beginning

"Linda, save your breath. I don't believe a word you are saying and at this point I just don't give a shit about you and your lies anymore. Now listen to me carefully, because this is what's happening.

"On Monday, you will be served divorce papers at the bank."

"God no Jack, please don't divorce me. Please."

"Linda listen to me. Your boss's wife by now has received copies of the videos and pictures that I have of your sleazy affair from the several times you fucked him in our bedroom. So likely you and fucking John Monroe will either be ending your relationship or perhaps you will be stuck with each other when his wife and I both dump your cheating asses."

"Jack, please tell me you didn't do that. He has a wife and two kids. Why are you going to ruin them?"

"Wow, Linda, you just don't get it. I'm not ruining them. You and fucking John Monroe ruined them. Your cheap affair didn't just ruin my life, your life, and the life of our kids, but it's also going to ruin his wife and his kids. Are you proud of yourself? You've had a hand in destroying the lives of eight people. Lucky for you that you're such a selfish bitch that you probably don't care."

With that assault of cutting comments, her sobs exploded and I could hear her hyperventilating through the phone. But I wasn't done yet.

"Your boss will be served with a civil suit for alienation of affection, although the process server might have to find what hospital he is in. Evidently, he had a piece of bad luck. Wrong place, wrong time. I heard from a friend that Monroe was mugged in the parking lot at the airport and ended up in the hospital with a crushed testicle and a shattered knee, so hard to say when he will be in shape to give you his magical cock again."

"Stop it, Jack! Stop being so cruel. I don't care about him; I just want you. Please don't do this to us."

"Listen up Linda, again, there is no us. Hard to say if your boss and you will have jobs by the end of next week because I also sent these pictures to the President and Board members of U.S. Commerce bank along with an alienation of affection and a sexual harassment suit. If they want to settle, I'll try and make sure you stay employed but I'll demand that they fire him for cause."

"No Jack, No. Do you hate me so much?"

"Linda, you are the one who showed your hatred for me by your betrayal, the lies and the disrespect. You took my love for you that I cherished and ripped it out of my soul. I'm just trying to reclaim some self-respect before our lives separate and we go in different directions."

At this point Linda was crying so heavily and uttering screams of disbelief and denial that I wasn't sure she could listen to me anymore. I was losing my pent-up anger and was feeling pain and remorse for what I was putting her through, because I knew I still loved her even as I knew I also hated her. It was a very unsettling bunch of emotions ripping at my soul. But overall, I was determined that I would have my revenge and that I would mortally wound her for what she had done to me.

"Linda, we are almost done. Try and concentrate on these next few items. I have taken the $125,000 we had in savings, and used $25,000 to prepay the next two years of Krista's college. I'll help her out in the future but for now this is what I can afford.

"I am leaving you the house; I signed the deed over to your name and the equity is about $100K if you sell it now."

"I'm not selling our house Jack, and I want you to stop this madness and come home to me so we can heal. Please for the sake of our 23 years of love and happiness before I went insane!"

I ignored that comment and continued, "Linda, if you sign the divorce, you keep the house and all of its contents, I keep the $100K that is left of our savings, and we are done. If you don't want to sign the divorce or fight it, I don't care; I won't be around for you to argue with. Do what you will, it doesn't matter to me."

"We are almost done Linda, there are just a few other things I need to tell you. If you look around the house you will notice I moved out. I've taken what I want and anything that is left you can do with as you choose. I took our family vacation pictures; I left the wedding photo albums to you. Save them, burn them, I don't care. I left my wedding ring on our dresser; you can melt it down or flush it down the toilet like you did with our marriage.

"Ryan is coming over to pick-up some of my fishing and hunting gear that he wants, and he prefers to come by when you are not there, so don't be alarmed if you notice someone's been in the house. He doesn't want to see you. Krista is coming over to clean out any of the possessions of hers that she wants; she doesn't plan on ever living there again. She also would like to come by when you are gone, so don't be surprised if you see her room emptied out."

"The last thing you should know is that I also texted the pictures of you and your fucking lover to your parents, my parents, and all of our contacts in both of our e-mail databases, so you might want to work on what story you want to tell them all. I'll be damned if I'll be the bad guy in this failed marriage."

Her crying and screams had now risen to a level where I was afraid, she would pass out or have a stroke. This needed to end. "Linda, Linda, one more thing. I resigned from my job last week, and I am leaving the state for the great unknown. I'm hoping that I can find someone in the future that loves me enough to stay true to the promises we make each other. Someone that will respect me, treat me as a treasured equal, and someone that I can once again trust and love. I hope you can find what you evidently were missing from me.

"Please don't look for me. If you really need me for something, you can send a message through Ryan, or through my Lawyer, but I am out of your life, and you are out of mine, and there really isn't any more to be said. Goodbye Linda."

I could hear her screaming, "Jack, no, no please Jack. Please forgive me!" as I hung up the phone and broke down into an anguished fit of crying and pain. I think I knew I had gone too far in exacting my revenge, and it would take a long time to forgive myself for the cruelty I showed. I doubted I would ever forgive her. I knew the road before me would be a painful one before I could heal myself and feel like I was ready for more than a life of solitude. More than anything, I didn't want to lead a life of bitterness. But I reminded myself as I thought about my morning on the mountain top, that there would still be moments of beauty and magic in my life, if I could keep myself open to them and just keep moving toward a new beginning.