Getting Out; Leaving a relationship

Bert handed Mary the divorce petition in the morning.

Last night they had sex and.slept together. It was over coffee he handed her the document and she asked if it were a joke.

Bert explained he'd wanted a last memory before ending the marriage. Further, he wanted her to move out as he was going to marry his girlfriend and she would live here.

(This is a true story; just in case you were wondering)

Mary instantly contacted her lawyer and this became the first test of a new law on Matrimonial Property.

Fortunately for Mary, unfortunately for Bert, the house would be divided 50/50 and Bert's girlfriend would never ever get to live in that big pretty mansion.

During the war between Bert and Mary, Mary had moved out.

If she had sense, she would have stayed out.

Mary had moved out because the anger and hatred Bert showed her was terrifying. He was so into his girlfriend it seemed he would have killed Mary if he had to.

Although Bert and Mary had been married 20 years and had a grown child, it was as if Mary meant nothing to Bert.

It is almost unbelievable that a man who has lived with a woman for twenty years can become so dazzled by a gal that he virtually would kill his wife to possess that gal. But this is true.

It is true in this case, in many cases.

Bert's girlfriend had expected Mary would be gone in a few days, and she'd be living in the mansion. Then she learned that the house would have to be divided 50/50 between Bert and Mary. She would never get the mansion. Further, Bert's money was going into the lawsuit.

Girlfriend looked in the mirror.

She was in her thirties, Bert was in his 60s. There was no sense getting involved with an old man if he wasn't extremely wealthy with no liabilities.

It seemed that by the time the divorce was through, Bert would be close to 70 and scarcely have enough money to buy her a diamond.

Mary, who had moved into a decent flat, watched the situation between Bert and his girlfriend play out to the inevitable end. Long before the divorce reached Court, the girlfriend had dumped him. Bert was now alone.

Possibly he realized that he had only been a meal ticket and free mansion for his beloved girlfriend. It is assumed he realized he was now alone.
All alone.
And he'd soon have to move from the house he'd worked for because his wife was going to order a forced sale.

To save his house, to regain his previous stability, Bert attempted a rapprochement with his wife.

Mary had won!
She had chased the gold digger!
She had proven her superiority!

Bert was apologising, begging her to give him another chance....

If Mary had the brains she was born with, she would have shaken her head and walked away.

Her friends tried to stop her, but Mary waxed lyrical, talking about forgiveness as if Bert was some teenage boy who fell for a trick instead of of a big old man who was ruled by his gonads and decided to replace his 40 year old wife with a new model.

Mary's lawyer cautioned her; for it seemed clear to the world that the only reason
Bert wanted her back is because he didn't want to lose the house.

But Mary, infused with a sense of being magnanimous, decided to give Bert another chance.

Whether Bert knew, when he called Mary and begged her return, or found out
afterwards is not the crucial issue. What was the critical issue is that Bert was dying of cancer.

He was dying and could not be alone, so there was Mary, turning into his nurse.

There was Mary cleaning soiled sheets, bathing him, looking after him until the day he died.

For over four years after the attempted divorce Mary was enslaved to Bert. Her life, for the final plus four years, was Bert-centric. And then he died.

She was there when he died. Fortunately, at that moment he was in the hospital, not the matrimonial home.

The girlfriend, the one he loved so much that he was willing to throw Mary on the street to please wasn't there, didn't care.

And by the time Bert died, Mary was nearly a pauper. She has spent everything on Bert's treatment.

If Mary had not taken her husband back had shrugged and went on with the Divorce she would have gotten 50% of the house. The house would have been sold, the proceeds would be used to buy another.

If Mary had not allowed Bert to eat four more years of her life, draining her of all strength, all wealth, she would be in a better position today than she was the day before he said 'divorce.'

But Mary forgave him, took him back.

She destroyed her career, her value, everything so that by the time he died she was worse off than the day he handed her the petition.

Today, looking back she realizes she was used. Used, as a free 24 hour a day nurse.

A man who would have put her on the street and ensconced his gal into the house without a blink, was able to reduce her to a virtual slave and she let him.

Why she went back is a mistake many women make.

To disastrous consequences.

When a third party is brought into a relationship, the 'replaced' spouse should leave. Leave and take as much as possible.

If Mary had demanded the forced sale, gotten her share, created her own life, she would be in a far better situation.

Even if Bert didn't die, even if he were in his thirties, even if he wanted to try again, it is wiser to start again, fresh.

In Mary's case, had she proceeded with the divorce, Bert would have died unmourned in some hospital. His share of the house would pay his bills. If the money ended before his treatment was complete, so?

Mary would not have lost everything to take care of a person like Bert who could have put her on the street to please a woman who was only after his money.

When a man becomes anti-wife and pro-girlfriend, there is no 'coming back'. There is no explanation, not apology, no forgiveness. The wife should leave. Leave physically, mentally and spiritually.

Leave.

When you face a situation similar to this; leave. Leave with as much as you can get.

Suppose the house is worth $500,000.00 You get 1/2 of that. If your husband can't pay that to you, the house will be sold. Whatever it sells for is more than you stand to get if you stay with him.

If you look at the situation with Mary and Bert it all becomes so clear. This girlfriend left Bert when she realized she would not get half of that house. Obviously, it was the house, not Bert she wanted. She left Bert. He did not decide to choose Mary, he did not decide anything. The girlfriend did.

If the girlfriend had told Bert she would leave him, perhaps he would have killed Mary to keep her. Women are murdered, the husband is often the first suspect. That is because the husband is often the culprit.

As soon as you are confronted with a man who wants to get rid of you for another woman, run.

Run, and get a lawyer, and from that safe distance, sue him for everything he has got.

And live to enjoy it.