After Five Years Of Marriage

Jessica paced about in the living room, waiting for her husband, Dylan Robinson, to return home from work.

She was a beautiful, full-figured, fair-skinned woman, and she had been married to Dylan for five years.

She had been submissive, loving, and dedicated to taking care of their home and two kids. Yet, all of a sudden, Dylan changed.

Jessica had a son and a daughter with Dylan. Her first son, Caleb, was a five-year-old boy, while her second child, Nina, was a two-year-old girl, and they were fast asleep in their separate bedrooms.

For two nights, after Dylan left for work on Monday morning, Jessica hadn't seen her husband return home. She had noticed that his mood had changed before he left the house that Monday morning.

Jessica stood in the living room and placed a call to Dylan to know where he was, but the network provider told her, "Sorry, the mobile number you're trying to call is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later."

"Oh! Where could Dylan be?" Jessica cursed, as she had called Dylan's phone line repeatedly and she really needed to see her husband.

She had lied to their two kids that their father went to work on Monday morning. Yet, Dylan didn't return home at all, and she couldn't continue to keep up with her lies.

Jessica heard the sound of a car driving into their compound and parking. She went outside, peeped, and saw that Dylan had finally returned home.

She sighed and went back into the house to wait for Dylan to come inside.

Soon, Dylan stepped down from his car and walked into the mansion. He was a 30-year-old black man, and he owned DY Mobile Company.

Dylan entered the living room and saw his wife, Jessica Albert, standing there in her long white nightgown. She greeted him, "Welcome home, sweetheart."

"Hmm," Dylan frowned.

He looked at the divorce papers in his hands that his long-time lover, Rosie Andrew, had given him to give to Jessica at home and to divorce her immediately.

Dylan walked up to meet Jessica without responding to her greeting. He stopped in front of her, shook the divorce papers into her hands, and told her, "I cannot continue to pretend with you anymore, Jessica. Read through these divorce, sign them, pack your things tomorrow, and return to your father's house. You can leave with our kids if you want to, or you can leave them behind and go alone, but make sure you pack your things tomorrow and leave! I will give you some shares of my company's revenue and pay you off later, but this marriage is over between us. So leave."

"What!" Jessica was taken aback by her husband's statement. She looked at the divorce papers in her hands.

*Is this a dream?* Jessica wondered and stared up at Dylan as she saw him walk away towards the living room stairs.

Instead of Dylan explaining to her where he had been for the three days and two nights that she hadn't seen him—as he was just returning home now—he shoved divorce papers into her hands and ordered her to sign them.

Jessica snapped out of her trance and quickly called Dylan back. She asked him, "Wait, Dylan. What's the meaning of this? You just got home now, and instead of explaining to me where you've been, you're speaking to me about divorce? What has come over you, Dylan? What did I do wrong to you?"

Jessica looked teary, and Dylan paused and turned back to face her. He asked her, "Have you taken a good look at yourself lately in the mirror, Jessica?"

Jessica was puzzled by her husband's question and stared at herself from head to toe to know what he meant.

"Are you the same woman I married five years ago? Take a good look at yourself, Jessica. You have turned fat overnight, and I cannot continue with you anymore! I cannot carry you and make love to you the way I want, as you have outgrown me, and that's just the truth! This marriage is not working anymore. So, sign the divorce papers and leave!" Dylan spat in a cold voice and turned to walk away towards the living room stairs.

Jessica replied, "No, Dylan! We cannot divorce. I love you, and I'm already working on myself."

Jessica was a banker before she met Dylan, but after giving birth to Nina and starting to add weight at home, Dylan complained that she had turned lazy and mandated that she quit her job to look after their two kids at home, stating that she wouldn't be leaving all the work to the maid alone.

Dylan sent the poor maid away, and Jessica had thought the maid did something wrong, but the maid was innocent.

Dylan insisted that Jessica must cook his food and spend time with their kids, and Jessica happily did all that if it would make their marriage work and please Dylan. Yet, Dylan was filing for divorce now.

Jessica cried, "No, Dylan! I cannot divorce you. After five years of our marriage? No! This cannot be happening to us."

Dylan paused and replied, "Just sign the divorce papers and leave, Jessica! I'm not the first man to divorce his wife, and I won't be the last man either."

Jessica tearfully asked, "What did I do wrong to you, Dylan? Why do you want to break up our marriage?"

Dylan turned and replied, "You've turned ugly, Jessica, and you're not the same woman I married before. So leave!"

"What!" Jessica was shocked at Dylan's statement to her, and she looked at her husband's face in disbelief. He smelled of alcohol, and she could see the red lipstick colour on his lips.

Jessica didn't want to believe that Dylan was already cheating on her. She asked him, "What did you just say, Dylan? That I'm ugly now? Really?"

"Yes, Jessica! Or am I lying to you? Was this how I married you before? Agreed, you're a billionaire's daughter, and your father helped me in the past to establish myself. So what? I cannot continue to pretend with you anymore, as you have turned fat and are not the kind of wife I want to have at home again or come back home to meet. So leave!" Dylan spat in a cold tone, and Jessica heart broke into pieces at his final statement to her.

Tears freely streamed down from her eyes and wet the divorce papers in her hands.

She sobbed, "No, Dylan... I cannot accept this divorce. I think you're getting it all wrong. It's not my fault that I'm fat now. Some women usually turn fat after their children's birth, and it's not a disease..."

Dylan climbed the living room stairs and paused as he stared back at Jessica. He saw that she indeed looked so innocent in her long white nightgown, and she wasn't really fat before when he initially married her.

He replied, "I cannot continue to pretend with you anymore, Jessica. So, take your time, read through the divorce papers, and sign them. I acknowledge all your efforts in making our marriage work and all your family's efforts in supporting us, too, in the past and present, but this marriage isn't working anymore. I cannot continue to sleep outside of my matrimonial home or pay for a hotel room when I have a luxurious duplex here as my home. So, sign the divorce papers and leave!"

Dylan climbed the living room stairs and went back upstairs to the master bedroom that he shared with Jessica, leaving only her standing alone in the living room and staring at the divorce papers in her hands.

Jessica looked back at the living room wall clock and saw that it was already after 11 p.m. at night. Yet, Dylan was just returning home from "work," and she knew that his company usually closed by 5 p.m.

Jessica screamed, "No, Dylan!!! This cannot be happening to us. We can never divorce! Never!"

Tears freely rolled down from her eyes and heavily wet the divorce papers in her hands. She said, "You cannot divorce me now, Dylan! I wasn't like this before, and I cannot turn thin overnight just to please you and make love to you the way you want."

Jessica fell backward onto one of the living room's black couches behind her—they had seven black couches in their living room—and she remembered the first day she had met Dylan.

Dylan was a handsome black man, very trustworthy, friendly, and the kind of man that every other lady out there would pray to have.

In the initial stages of their relationship, Dylan was sweet and romantic to her, and he never got tired in bed with her. He made her want him, and she couldn't withstand his sexual prowess either.

If anyone had told her then that Dylan would one day break up with her or divorce her now, Jessica would have cursed the person as a hater, because she dated Dylan for two years before they got married.

But now, Dylan wanted to divorce her and end their five years of marriage after all she had done for him.

"No, Dylan! I cannot take this. That means you are already cheating on me out there with someone else. Come back here. You need to explain to me what happened to the Dylan I met before and married. You cannot divorce me now. No!! Not after five years of our marriage.! I cannot take this!"

"How can you just be returning home this night after spending two days outside of our matrimonial home, and you are telling me that I'm fat and ugly now and not the kind of wife you want to come back home to? No, Dylan!! I cannot accept this divorce." Jessica stood up from the living room couch and rushed back upstairs to their bedroom to meet her husband.

Jessica rushed into the bedroom, still holding the divorce papers in her hands. She saw her husband stripping off his suit as he stood nàked in the middle of the bedroom, wanting to take his bath.

She gulped hard as her blue eyes came in contact with her husband’s unclad body. He might look like he wasn’t aging at all, but he had matured and was not the same young man she had married five years ago.

Jessica remembered how her father had rejected Dylan because her family had a personal hatred for poor people. She had begged her family on his behalf and acted annoyed with her parents just so they could approve of Dylan and accept him to become her husband.

She supported his business to grow, and now that he was already made and a billionaire—as they were blessed with two beautiful kids—Dylan was now speaking to her about divorce and beginning to have a double mindset about their five years of marriage.

Jessica knew that marriage wasn’t a “do or die” aff