“Oh, you can’t come with me. It’s high-level stuff,” he explained, patronizing as ever. “You’d feel out of place.”
I smiled faintly. “I see… well, good luck with your networking.”
Two weeks later, James came home looking shell-sh0cked. His expensive suit was wrinkled, his tie loose around his neck.
“They’re demoting me,” he said, collapsing onto the couch. “My position is being ‘restructured,’ apparently. But they didn’t just put me back in my old role — they gave me an even lower position! My salary’s worse than when I first started! It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Actually, it makes perfect sense,” I said quietly.
“That promotion? It came through my old network. Your boss, Mike, and I go way back. When I mentioned to him that my husband was looking to move up…” I let the words hang in the air.
“What?”
“But then, why have I been demoted?”
“It’s simple. I helped build your success, James. And when you showed me exactly who you are, I decided to take it back. And that’s not all.”
“This is ridiculous,” he sputtered. “It’s obvious this fifty-fifty split won’t work anymore!”
“If I made it work, I’m sure you can, too,” I replied.
The following two years were traumatic as we saw our marriage fall apart due to his bitterness. James was unable to cope with the role reversal and couldn’t bear to watch me thrive while he struggled.
That previous arrangement he had pressed for came back to haunt him once more when we eventually signed the divorce papers.
