The Rain That Never Washed Away Her Lies

On our honeymoon, Sophia Smith told me she had a surprise planned for me.

I waited for her on that mountain peak for over three hours.

Even when the storm rolled in and the downpour started, she never showed.

Just as I was about to leave, cold and defeated, I checked Instagram.

There was a new post from her childhood sweetheart, Liam, tagged at the Aspen Mountain Resort hotel.

The photo showed them lying on a bed scattered with rose petals, their fingers laced together.

The woman's ring finger was bare.

On her partially exposed chest were distinct red scratches and faint bite marks.

The caption read, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

A wave of nausea hit me. I commented underneath,

"Get a tetanus shot if a dog bit you."

The moment I saw that photo, my first thought was,

Sophia's heart is rotten. I don't want it anymore.

So when she called me out of the blue, full of explain,

I just said one words, flatly.

"Divorce."

Sophia was silent for a moment, her voice laced with irritation.

"Stop being jealous, Evan Johnson! Liam and I grew up together, we're practically siblings. It was just a silly joke between friends. Only someone with a dirty mind would see something wrong."

"Besides, we just ran into each other. It was pouring, and he wasn't feeling well. I was worried, so I took him back to his room to get out of the rain."

The more she explained, the shakier her voice became.

She seemed to have completely forgotten that I was the one with chronic health issues, which was why I'd handed the reins of my company over to her.

I'd willingly endured the whispers of being a gold digger for her.

I cut her off impatiently. "I'm still on the mountaintop."

I'd waited three hours for her, been soaked for one.

There was no shelter up there, and the path was too dangerous to descend in the storm.

Hearing I was stranded, Sophia immediately sounded frantic.

"Stay right there! I'm coming to get you."

I waited another hour.

The rain stopped, but Sophia never came.

The mountain path was a treacherous, muddy mess after the downpour.

After just a few steps, I was splattered with mud from head to toe.

I sneezed repeatedly, feeling like my heart had sunk into the mud along with my shoes.

Sick and utterly disgusted.

Back at the rental cabin, I took a long, hot shower.

I saw Liam had posted again, "Some girls have a Prince Charming, I have my Knight in Shining Armor. Rain or shine, my Knight will always gets me home safely."

Sophia, who rarely liked or commented on my posts, had replied underneath, "Always protecting my Prince."

I refreshed the page. Only a single horizontal line remained. She had blocked me.

My head throbbed. I took some cold medicine and fell into a fitful sleep.

I hadn't been asleep long when Sophia yanked the duvet off me.

Her face was dark, stormy.

"Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I'm hungry. Get up and make me something to eat."

"And make an extra bowl of hot cocoa you do. Liam got a little chilled, I'll take it to him later."

I jolted awake, my headache pounding worse than ever.

My voice was thick with disgust. "Didn't Liam fill you up already?"

Sophia shot up, glaring at me, furious.

"Evan! Are you seriously not over this? Didn't I already explain? I was late because of the weather and traffic! Do you have to pick a fight on our anniversary? After I went to all this trouble to plan a surprise for you!"

She threw a small, wrapped box at me.

It hit my temple. A sharp pain shot through me, tears springing to my eyes unbidden.

She looked startled, flustered, and reached out to check the injury.

As she leaned in, I caught a strong, familiar scent.

Liam's signature cologne.

I could almost picture her fingers running through his hair, her expression tender and intimate.

I shoved her away, revolted, my gaze falling on the box on the floor.

The watch inside had tumbled out. It was the limited edition model I'd always wanted. The same one Liam wore.

Its cheap, plastic sheen gave the fake away instantly.

In this marriage,

Liam got the genuine article and the real affection.

All I got was lie after lie.

I didn't even bother asking who the surprise at the Aspen Mountain Resort was really meant for.

"It's one in the morning," I said, looking up at Sophia.

"The honeymoon's over. So is our marriage."

"Fine, stop being so dramatics. I need to take you to the hospital."

Seeing the blood seeping from my temple, Sophia looked genuinely concerned.

Ignoring how weak and dizzy I felt, she hauled me out of bed.

Playing the part of the dutiful, worried wife, she insisted on driving me to the ER.

I was too groggy to even grab a jacket.

The car's air conditioning was cranked too high. I hugged the stuffed bear on the seat for warmth.

Looking closer, I saw a huge "X" drawn crudely across its face in permanent marker.

Like a blatant taunt.

Sophia noticed my stare.

"When I picked Liam a ride last time, he said it was cute and doodled on it. Don't make a big deal out of it. I'll buy you a new one tomorrow."

"Stop sulking. You're a grown man, not earning a dime, and you're clutching a stuffed animal. I haven't complained, so what right do you have to be mad?"

My grandmother gave me that bear before she passed.

Sophia knew that.

I wiped at the marker stain, my heart aching, too drained to speak.

Just then, Liam called, his voice loud through the car speakers.

"Is the old man asleep yet? Forget him, come join us for drinks. Maya and Fiona are here too."

Sophia shot me an awkward glance. "He's right here with me."

"Then bring the hick... uh, I mean, brother-in-law along. Tell him not to be such a buzzkill."

Seeing the location Liam sent, Sophia immediately changed course.

"I don't want to go! Take me home!"

The word "drinks" dredged up a humiliating memory.

My first time meeting Sophia's core friend group.

I'd prepared carefully, only to be mocked.

They knew I had a medical condition that meant I couldn't drink, but they pressured me relentlessly anyway.

Then they filmed my disoriented state and posted snippets online.

Sophia left me, passed out and vulnerable, alone in the bar to drive a tipsy Liam home.

I woke up to find my phone and wallet missing, surrounded by unsettling strangers.

The manager eventually intervened, but the terror of that night still made me shiver.

Sophia, of course, had forgotten all about it.

"Don't be so selfish! What's wrong with catching up with old friends? I've never stopped you from socializing!"

"Then let me out. I'll get myself home."

My head was pounding. I just wanted rest.

I had no energy left to fight with her.

"No! Snubbing my friends is snubbing me. You are coming today!"

Her stubborn, entitled streak was back in full force.

Seeing my pale expression, she softened her tone slightly. "Please? Just one quick drink to say hello, and then we'll leave. Don't make me upset, Evan."

We arrived at the upscale lounge well past 2 AM.

Liam greeted Sophia with an enthusiastic, lingering hug.

Then he looked me up and down with a smirk. "Evan sure knows how to make an entrance. Still mad at me?"

"Don't be so petty. Sophia and I have been tight since we were kids. If we wanted something to happen, do you really think we would have let you marry her?"

The group warmly pulled Sophia to their secluded booth.

Four seats. I was left standing.

"Ah, see, the four of us have been a unit since grade school. It's force of habit. There aren't any extra chairs..."

Liam looked around pointedly, smirking at me.

"Maybe you should just head home? You wouldn't really get our inside jokes anyway."

Liam, the undeniable center of their universe, sat back smugly among them.

I sighed softly but didn't move.

During the years I loved Sophia deeply,

I'd tried desperately to get along with her friends, to fit into her life.

But at every gathering, Liam would expertly steer the conversation down memory lane.

They'd talk over me, mock my quieter background, and revel in shared experiences I could never be part of, leaving me utterly stranded.

He was doing it again.

Sensing the awkwardness, Maya stood up slightly to offer her seat.

"Here, Evan, sit down."

I looked at Maya, suddenly remembering a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear.

She'd asked Sophia more than once,

"What does Evan have that Liam doesn't? Why did you ever marry him?"

What had Sophia said?

"We were fighting then. I was vulnerable. It was a moment of weakness."

"I've regretted it for ages, but he's been so persistent... it felt pathetic to just kick him out."

Thinking of that, I let out another quiet sigh.

"Don't bother. We're getting divorced. That should free up a seat permanently."

A marriage meant for two has no room for a permanent third wheel.

Sophia stared at me, completely stunned.

In all our years of marriage, this was the first time I'd ever refused to play along and embarrassed her in front of her friends.

Before, even if she stayed out drinking until dawn, one call from her and I'd come fetch her without a word of complaint.

But now? I was done swallowing my pride for her sake.

Maya and Fiona rushed to smooth things over with strained smiles.

Liam just snorted, grabbing Sophia's hand possessively.

"Only useless men use divorce as a threat," he sneered, his voice dripping with contempt.

Sophia flushed with secondhand embarrassment, shooting me a venomous glare.

"Evan, have I spoiled you too much? You live in my house, off my money! Have you forgotten how you used to beg me, crying, not to leave you?"

I just grabbed my phone and walked out without another word.

I was done begging.

When Liam first returned from studying abroad, I'd had countless fights with Sophia over their blatantly inappropriate "friendship."

Every single time, her ultimatum was the same,

"If you can't handle it, then divorce me!"

Back then, still drowning in the illusion of her love, I was always the one to apologize, to grovel, to plead for another chance.

I'd knelt on the cold tiles of our doorstep for her.

I'd sobbed alone in the dead of night, shattered.

But Sophia took my tolerance, my devotion, as permission to walk all over me.

This time, I wouldn't bow my head. My pride was all I had left.

I went back to the penthouse, packed a single suitcase with my essentials, and moved into the small, pre-war apartment I'd bought secretly before the wedding.

I'd scraped together the down payment from freelance coding gigs Sophia had never bothered to ask about.

Sophia had thrown a monumental fit when she'd found the deed.

"Only a provincial idiot buys a studio apartment. It's tiny and in a terrible neighborhood. So embarrassing. You should have spent that money toward a car. At least I'd look good driving it."

Later, my parents had gifted us a top-of-the-line Porsche as a wedding present, which had finally satisfied her vanity.

I was profoundly grateful I hadn't listened to her.

This little apartment was now my sanctuary.

That luxury car had long since become Liam's personal chariot.

By the time I finished unpacking, dawn was breaking.

Too wired to sleep, I went to a 24-hour print shop to get the divorce papers.

Returning to my building, I found Sophia leaning against my door, her arms crossed.

I was genuinely surprised. It was the first time she'd ever sought me out.

"About last night... I said some harsh things. But you really shouldn't have treated my friends like that. Apologize to Liam, and we can put all this behind us."

When I'd left the bar, I'd heard Liam say, "Trust fund kid, all style, no substance. Just attitude. Marrying a guy like that? Talk about a raw deal."

Sophia always described me to outsiders as a paranoid, jealous trophy husband.

Little did they know, in this marriage, Sophia was the only one who threw tantrums.

She saved her polite, charming facade for strangers.

At home, she was demanding, impossible to please.

A stray piece of cilantro in her food could trigger a screaming rage, her screaming that I was useless before storming off, plates shattering in her wake.

"The one who needs to apologize isn't me."

I shoved the thick envelope of divorce papers into her hands and unlocked my door.

Sophia followed me inside, her demeanor shifting. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, her voice a low purr in my ear.

"Stop being so difficult. I'll apologize, okay?"

Her hands began wandering under my shirt. "I know I've been distant. You're feeling neglected. I get it. Let's... let's try for a baby, okay? Wouldn't that be nice?"

The vivid image of her and Liam on that rose-petal-strewn bed flashed behind my eyes. A wave of pure revulsion surged through me.

I shoved her away with more force than I intended.

"Don't touch me!" I spat, my voice raw. "You're filthy!"

Sophia's cheek, where my arm had brushed it, flushed red.

Fury ignited in her eyes.

But before she could unleash the torrent of anger, everything went black, and I collapsed to the floor.