I needed time to figure out what I actually wanted from my life. And slowly, the anger disappeared. I stopped checking Wanda's social media. I stopped wondering what she was doing. I stopped thinking about Jack.
The anniversary that had once felt like the worst night of my life became just a date on the calendar. Then about 8 months after the divorce, something happened that I didn't expect. I met someone new. Her name was Claire. And unlike my marriage with Wanda, I wasn't looking for anything.
I wasn't trying to replace anyone. I was simply ready to see what happened next. For the first time in 10 years, my future didn't have Wanda in it. And strangely, that didn't scare me anymore. Claire and I didn't rush into anything.
That was important to me. After 10 years with Wanda, I had no interest in jumping into another serious relationship just because I didn't want to be alone. Claire understood that. We started with simple things. Dinner after work, weekend walks, movies, long conversations that had nothing to do with my divorce.
She never pushed me to talk about Wanda. If I mentioned something, she listened. If I didn't, she didn't ask. That alone felt strange. I had spent years explaining myself to someone who had eventually lied to me anyway.
With Claire, I didn't feel like I had to prove anything. Meanwhile, Wanda's life was going in a very different direction. I didn't know much about it at first. I wasn't looking for information, but eventually, I heard things through mutual friends. Jack had disappeared from her life completely.
He had stopped answering her calls after the divorce. The relationship she had risked our marriage for hadn't lasted. A few months later, she had moved out of the apartment she rented after leaving our house. She had started working longer hours because the financial situation after the divorce was harder than she expected. The house sale had been divided fairly.
The savings had been divided. Neither of us had taken everything from the other. But Wanda had become used to the life we built together. Once that life was gone, she realized how much of it had depended on both of us. One evening, a mutual friend mentioned that Wanda had asked about me.
She wanted to know if you're seeing someone. I didn't say anything. Did you tell her that you're dating Claire? Yes. I nodded.
My friend looked at me. She didn't take it well. I shrugged. That's not my responsibility. He nodded.
I figured you'd say that. A week later, Wanda sent me an email. I almost ignored it, but I opened it. She didn't ask me to come back. She didn't blame Jack.
She didn't make excuses. Instead, she admitted that she'd spent months trying to understand why she'd done what she did. She said she had convinced herself that the affair was about Jack. It wasn't. She finally understood that the real problem was that she had wanted to keep our marriage while also having something outside it.
She had wanted both. And when she couldn't have both, she lost everything. I read the email twice, then I closed it. I didn't reply. A few days later, I received another one.
This time, she wrote about our 10th anniversary. She said she remembered walking into that restaurant and seeing me sitting alone. She remembered how excited I had looked before she arrived. She remembered the watch I had bought her. She said she still had it.
That part surprised me, but I didn't respond. I wasn't angry. I just didn't see the point. Claire noticed something was on my mind that evening. Everything okay?
Yeah. You're sure? I nodded. Wanda emailed me. Claire didn't react.
What did she want? To apologize. Do you want to answer? No. Then don't.