Photos of the two brothers with her filled their social media, always set to be hidden from her view.
A doctor and a judge, yet they revolved around her every need: Ross suddenly took an interest in obstetrics, and Sean went out of his way to help her with a divorce case.
Meanwhile, Ellie and I, their actual wives, barely got a holiday greeting or a single flower in all that time.
He was there, but his love felt like it never was.
We’d overlooked the truth: his heart had moved on.
Or maybe… there was never love at all.
It took losing two lives for me to finally see it.
Lying in bed, I distracted myself with my phone, trying hard to avoid social media.
When I opened TikTok, a video on the trending page caught my eye:
Winnie’s latest post. She was basking in affection, practically flaunting her two childhood “friends” with pride.
There were three photos: a group shot of the three of them, a legal document, and a close-up of her hands cradling her stomach.
Her caption read: [Those who care for you will always show up before danger does! Thank you, my dearest friends.]
The comment section was full of admiration and jealousy.
[Oh my god, where can I find childhood friends like this?]
[Girl, you’ve got it good!]
One or two people even noted: [Hey, don’t these two look familiar? Aren’t they the brothers who married those best friends?]
But those comments were buried quickly under all the adoring replies.
Just then, Ellie sent me a screenshot of Winnie’s latest post with a simple, steady message: [Maisie, I don’t know why, but looking at this, I feel… nothing.]
[Two husbands for one wife. Since they’re so eager, let’s make it official for them.]
I took a deep breath.
[You’re right. This has nothing to do with us anymore. I’m calling a divorce lawyer. I’ve put up with this long enough.]
The lawyer worked fast, and by the next day, our divorce agreements were ready. I had the lawyer send copies to both Ross and Sean’s emails.
Two days passed, and neither of them responded.
The dull, grinding pain of waiting wore me down, and I finally lost patience.
[Have you seen the divorce papers?] I messaged Ross. [Please respond.]
The reply was yet another angry tirade.
[Haven’t you caused enough trouble? I’m telling you, the more you push, the less I want to come home. Stop trying to ‘test’ me!]
I didn’t respond, stunned by his sheer arrogance.