A man ridicules his unemployed wife and returns home to find her missing. While searching for her, he discovers a note revealing her plans to divorce him. Can he stop her and save their marriage?
It was a cold, bright October morning, and Harry was excited to present his gaming app, a project he had been working on for the past six months.
As the clock struck eight, Harry entered the dining room, preoccupied with his phone, barely recognizing his wife, Sara, and their sons, Cody and Sonny.
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“Hello, honey,” Sara greeted.
“Hello, Dad,” the boys added in chorus.
Ignoring them, Harry grabbed a piece of toast and rushed to his room.
“Sara, where’s my white shirt?” Harry’s voice echoed through the room.
“It’s in the washing machine with the other white shirts,” Sarah replied.
Harry burst into the dining room. “That’s my lucky shirt! I needed it for today!”
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“I didn’t have enough white for a full load until now. You have more white shirts!!”
“It’s a big day for me and you’re making excuses?” Harry retorted.
“You’re exaggerating, Harry. It’s your presentation that counts. It’s just a shirt. So stop barking, okay?”
“Oh, really? I bark? You want to do that now?”
“Do what, Harry? You’re making a scene over a stupid little thing. And no one will care what color your shirt is when all eyes will be on your damn presentation.”
“A goddamn presentation? Again… Did you just say that? Do you have any idea how I worked my ass off day and night for this project?”
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“Be careful what you say. Children…”
“You stay home all day doing nothing,” said Harry. “Is it too hard to remember one simple thing? All you do is blah blah blah and NOTHING at home.”
“Harry, that’s enough. The children are looking at us. You’re scaring them.”
“Really? And no one’s watching you when you’re on the phone chatting with your friends all the time. No one’s watching that, are they, Sara? You’ll never be a good wife if you can’t even do one simple thing for me!”
Harry dressed in a simple suit and stormed out of the house, grabbing his briefcase.
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After a successful presentation and getting the promotion, Harry expected Sara to call him to apologize, something she always did after their arguments. But this time, there was no call.
Thinking he’d get her apology anyway, he returned home with white roses, but found the apartment empty. A note from Sara on the table read, “I want a divorce.”
Confused and worried, Harry called Sara’s sister, Zara, who informed him that Sara was in the hospital. Harry rushed to the hospital and found himself facing an angry Zara. “Did you tell her she wasn’t ‘woman’ enough for you?”
“Listen, we’ll talk about this later, okay?”
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Harry rushed to meet the doctor. “Doctor, is my wife all right? May I see her?”
“It was a minor attack. She’s out of danger. But she needs to take care of herself now. Go ahead, just for ten minutes, because she needs to rest.”
Harry walked into the ward shakily, trying to force a smile as he approached Sara.
“Honey, I’m sorry. Let me explain. I-“
“I don’t want to hear anything. I’m done. Divorce is the only thing I want.”
“What? Why… You’re taking this too far, okay?”
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“I had ambitions, plans… I chose you over all other opportunities, and it ruined my life,” she said. “It’s too late to be sorry, Harry.”
“Honey, please. We can work together,” he pleaded.
“No, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t lie to myself. For you. And for the kids. I’m 32, but I feel like an old maid. I hate you, Harry. You’re so disgusting.”
“And the children, Sara?”
“I have a hard time providing for them… So they stay with you.”
Harry didn’t speak again and rushed out of the hospital to pick up his children from Zara.
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At home, he ordered pizza and ice cream for dinner. After putting the kids to bed, he called his friend Alex, who told him that Sara might have just cracked and would be home soon.
The next morning, Harry’s children woke him up, and as soon as he looked at his watch, he knew he was late! In the morning chaos, Harry burned the French toast and his shirt while juggling the children’s school preparations.
“Oh, no, toast,” he exclaimed, rushing to save breakfast.
“Dad… Dad, what’s going on?” the children ask amidst the chaos.
“It’s just the smoke alarm. Don’t worry,” Harry reassured them, but the situation only got worse.
He had an important meeting and he was running late. “I’ll get ready quickly and we’ll go get something nice to eat on the way to school, okay?”
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He dropped the kids off at school and arrived late for the meeting. “Sorry! Traffic, you know…”
When he returned home that evening, Harry found the signs of Sara’s absence even more evident. Her belongings were gone. “Has she left me for good?” he wondered, overwhelmed.
“Dad, what happened to Mom’s pictures and things?” the boys asked.
Harry, distraught, called Zara.
“Is this a joke, Zara? Your sister came here. She took all her things. And she left me? With the kids?”
Zara informed him coldly, “She told you, didn’t she, Harry? You took my sister for granted.” And then the line went dead.
***
Five months have passed without Sara. Harry is struggling to balance work and parenting, and his performance at work has declined.
One day, his boss, Mr. Adams, invited him for a beer. At the pub, Mr. Adams discussed Harry’s recent work problems.
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“Harry, we’ve noticed you’ve been missing deadlines and arriving late. And we’re a business… if you know what I mean,” Mr. Adams said.
Harry, trying to lighten the mood, joked, “So, you’re planning on letting your best game developer go?”
Mr. Adams was also Harry’s friend, and Harry could never have prepared himself for what happened next.
“I’m afraid so,” Mr. Adams replied seriously. “That’s not my business. I’ll give you good recommendations.”
“What? Please don’t do this! I need this job for my children.”
Mr. Adams remained silent, prompting Harry to storm out in frustration. As he walked away, his phone rang. It was Sara.
“Sara?” Harry said, surprised.
“Harry, can we meet for a little chat at five o’clock? At the cafe where we started…?” Sara asked.
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At the cafe, Sara met with Harry to discuss their children. She revealed that she had been in therapy and now wanted custody of the children.
“The guard?? How dare you? After leaving us?” Harry fumed.
“Harry, I’m their mother. I have rights,” Sara insisted.
“You abandoned them, and now you want to take them away from me? They’re used to me now,” Harry argued.
Sara was determined. “I deserve to get them back. I’ll see you in court.”
A few days later, Harry, now able to manage household chores and balance a new freelance job, was preparing breakfast for his sons.
“Daddy loves you,” he kissed them and dropped them off at school before heading to the custody hearing.
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“Mr. Wills, can you tell us about the care you gave to your family while living with my client, Miss Sara?” Sara’s lawyer asked Harry.
“Well, I did my best to provide for my family. I worked long hours. Sometimes overtime. I kept busy because I wanted to make sure they had everything they needed,” Harry said.
“That’s what responsible men do, isn’t it? And what about your wife’s ambitions? Did she want to build her own career?”
“Before we had our children… Yes, she wanted to work. But after that, she stayed home to take care of the children and the housework.”
“Well, taking care of the children… the family… cooking, cleaning. Basically, your wife has been your cook. Your children’s nanny. Your benefactress. And you insulted her by saying she didn’t do anything around the house?”
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“I did it. Yes, it was a fit of anger. I was late for the office and…”
“Mr. Wills, were you fired? Why exactly were you fired?”
“Objection, Your Honor. This is completely irrelevant and irrelevant to the case,” Harry’s lawyer stood up.
“Objection dismissed.”
“Thank you, Your Honor!” added Sara’s lawyer. “Mr. Wills, why were you fired?”
After a long pause, Harry looked Sara in the eyes and opened up. “Because I couldn’t balance my work and parenting responsibilities. I tried, but it was too much. But I didn’t give up. I will never abandon my children. I love them.”
“Mr. Wills, how are you managing now? How do you intend to support your children… without a job?”
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“I have a job. I can provide for them.”
“Be specific, Mr. Wills. What job and what is the salary?”
“It’s… It’s a part-time freelance job. I’m a video editor.”
“Mr. Wills, I admire your self-confidence despite your career advancement! I’m sure you’re not earning as much as you did in your old job, are you?” the lawyer added wryly. “Freelance work. A small salary. And raising two children in the current recession. Well… That’s all, Your Honor.”
Sara was then called into the dock, while Harry’s heart began to race.
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“Ms. Sara, can you tell us about your life with your husband… I mean, your soon-to-be ex-husband?” Harry’s lawyer asked. “Did he ever refuse to give you money or take care of you in any way?”
“No… Not at all. He’s always been generous with our finances. We’ve never had any money problems.”
“Has Mr. Wills ever raised his hand to you or the children? Has he ever come home drunk and misbehaved?”
“No, he never laid a hand on us. My husband. I’m sorry. Mr. Wills never came home drunk.”
“Your husband took care of you. You even agreed to it. He never laid a hand on you. So why did you leave him and the children?”
“I had a nervous breakdown. He was always busy. He would come home and sit in front of his laptop, barely asking me if I was sick… happy… or sad. I tried to cope. But I couldn’t take it anymore and left. I didn’t want my children to have to fight with me, as I wasn’t emotionally stable at the time.”
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Harry started to break inside and those words hit him like a bag of bricks.
“Ms. Sara, where have you been for these six months? What have you been doing, and how are you going to take care of the children?”
“I was in Chicago staying with a friend. I wanted to get away from everything and everyone for a while. Then I went back to Boston… I got a job as an interior designer.”
“What guarantees you won’t have another breakdown and abandon the children again?” The lawyer broke Sara’s silence.
“Objection, Your Honor. This is without merit and…” Sara’s lawyer intervenes. “My client, Ms. Sara, has come seeking custody of the children. Why would she leave them again?”
“Order…Order.”
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“I will never do that again. My children are my world. I will be there for them and I will never let anything like that happen again.”
And two hours later, the verdict was announced, and Sara was awarded custody of the children.
“…Mr. Wills, you will be allowed to visit your children and take them with you two days a week. You will be required to pay your children $860 in child support each month. This case is now closed.”
The day the children were to leave with Sara soon arrived. She arrived, sad to separate the children from their father, but happy to be reunited with them. As she left with her two sons, the eldest stopped her.
“You’re separating us,” Cody said, letting go of Sarah’s hand and running towards Harry.
“We want Mom and Dad,” Sonny added.
It was time. Sara couldn’t hold back any longer. She rushed towards them and hugged them.
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