After the Divorce: The Right to a Family

“I demand a divorce.” The husband’s words sound categorical and calm. It’s his measured decision. And it’s as if I’m punched in the gut. My eyes sting, but I’m not crying.

“Have you got someone else?” I whisper, feeling a spasm in my throat.

“No. I haven’t cheated on you,” the husband says shamelessly.

And an hour later I catch him with the secretary.

Around us are doctors trying to separate them—she has an internal spasm, while I silently watch my husband and hysterically laugh.

Fifteen years of our “happy” marriage—down the drain.

The words about my diagnosis get stuck in my throat, and I go quiet. I won’t degrade myself.

Let everyone think that I’m only pretending this way to hold him.

But nobility in our family is something I’ve known—only me.

— I won’t claim the children. I’ll provide you with a comfortable life, and in return you won’t tell them the truth about our divorce.