In a sudden turn, my wife ended our two-decade-long marriage overnight, leaving only a bottle of floor cleaner and a note behind

The silence offered no answers, just the soft ticking of the clock we’d bought together on our honeymoon in Paris.

Two days passed in a blur of unanswered calls and sleepless nights. Then fate decided to twist the knife.

I walked into Brewzz Café, desperate for something stronger than my home brew. And there she was. Elise. My wife. With a man I’d never seen before.

They shared a muffin and looked like they’d known each other forever.

My feet moved before my brain could catch up.

“ELISE?”

She looked up, completely unsurprised. Her hair was different, styled in a way I’d never seen before. It made her look younger and more vibrant.

“Hello, Johnny.”

“Can we talk?”

She gestured to the empty chair, while her companion, a young man with thick dark hair and an expensive watch, watched with amusement.

“How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long have you been seeing him?”

Elise stirred her coffee slowly. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to me. And why the floor cleaner? Why that note? What does it mean?”

Elise’s laugh was sharp and unfamiliar. “Look at yourself, Johnny! And look at the cartoony man in the bottle’s logo. Bald, just like YOU!”

She turned to her companion. “Remo, didn’t I tell you he’d take forever to get it?”

My face burned as the guy chuckled. Twenty years of marriage reduced to a cruel joke about my appearance.

“You left me because I’m… BALD?”

“Not just that. I left because you stopped caring. About everything. Your appearance, our relationship. Me. When was the last time you bought new clothes for yourself? Or planned a date night? Or did anything romantic besides work and watching TV? And sleep like a bear?”

“I was building our future, Elise. Working hard to—”

“To what? To become the most boring man in the universe? And you know what? Thank goodness we didn’t have kids. They’d run a mile from such a boring father!”

She leaned forward, her eyes cold. “Do you know what it’s like to sit at dinner parties while other couples talk about their travels, their adventures, and their lives? All you ever talk about is work and your fantasy football league.”

“That’s not fair, Elise. I—”

“Last month,” she cut in, “I dyed my hair purple. Just the ends. Wore it that way for three days.”

I blinked, confused by the sudden change in topic. “What?”

“You never noticed. Never said a word. That’s when I knew for sure it was over.”

She stood up, gathering her designer purse. “Remo takes care of himself. He makes an effort. He looks at me. He really does. And that’s what I need now.”

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