When Christopher returned home from work, he found Anna in the kitchen, where she was preparing dinner. He faced a difficult conversation, which he began with the words:
“I have something important to tell you.”
Anna didn’t say anything, but Christopher noticed tension and sadness in her eyes.
Not knowing how to begin, he said directly that he wanted a divorce.
Anna reacted calmly, showing neither anger nor surprise. She asked just one question:
“Why?”
Christopher avoided answering. In truth, he had no intention of explaining why their marriage was falling apart. What could he say? That he no longer loved her, that he had lost interest a long time ago, and now he felt something for another woman?
Without saying anything more, Christopher went to the bedroom. He couldn’t bear listening to Anna cry in the kitchen.
The next morning, feeling guilty, he handed her divorce papers, in which he left her the house and the car.
Anna tore up the papers and quietly said:
“I don’t want anything from you,” and then she started crying again.
Christopher felt that he was doing something wrong, but Anna, with whom he had spent so many years, suddenly seemed completely foreign to him.
He pitied her, but all he could think about was how quickly he could be with another woman.
That evening, Christopher came home late, skipped dinner, and went straight to bed. His wife, as usual, sat at the table writing something.
In the middle of the night, he woke up and noticed that Anna was still sitting at her desk. He didn’t care what she was doing. Her presence didn’t evoke any feelings in him.
In the morning, Anna handed him a few sheets of paper.
“These are my conditions for the divorce,” she said.
“What conditions?” Christopher asked reluctantly.
Anna explained:
“I want us to delay filing the divorce papers for one month. Our son is taking his exams, and I don’t want him to get stressed. We need to maintain the image of a family.”
Christopher agreed.
“And what is the second condition?” he asked.
“Every day, you will carry me in your arms from the bedroom to the front door.”
“What nonsense is this?” he exclaimed.
“I just want us to have one last pleasant tradition,” Anna replied calmly.
Christopher didn’t protest.
The next day, he reluctantly fulfilled his wife’s request. It seemed silly to him, but their son clapped his hands joyfully, and Anna, smiling, rested her head on his shoulder.
Day by day, this “tradition” became less awkward for him. Christopher began to notice in Anna the qualities he had once loved. He saw her exhaustion, her aged yet still beautiful face.
On the fourth day, he suddenly thought about how much she had done for their family.
“And how have I repaid her?” he thought, feeling a pang of guilt.
Each day, Anna seemed lighter to him. One day, he saw her standing by the closet, sorting through her clothes.
“All my clothes are too big for me,” she said sadly.
Christopher felt a sudden pang of guilt.
He realized how much his wife had changed. Her thinness, her sadness—everything pointed to the fact that she was unhappy.
On the last day of the month, Christopher made a decision.
He went to the other woman and said:
“I’m staying with my wife. We simply forgot how important we are to each other.”
Leaving the office, he stopped by a flower shop, bought a beautiful bouquet, and wrote a note:
“For me, happiness is carrying you in my arms until the end of our days.”
When he got home, Anna was lying in bed. She was no longer there.
Later, Christopher learned that his wife had been battling an illness for a long time. She hid it to preserve the image of a happy family in their son’s eyes.
He sat in the empty house, feeling hollow. Now he understood: love never disappears if you take care of it.
