Walking Toward My Future Without the Man Who Broke Me

Travis filed the divorce papers the very hour his retirement party ended. In the courtroom, his eyes darted from the judge to the metallic brace on my left leg—the one I’ve dragged behind me for forty years—before he spoke. “Forty years, Sutton. Forty years of looking at that… that mangled limb. I’m done.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a theatrical whisper meant only for the court reporter. “Our marriage was always transactional, a business deal. But this job—being your husband—it’s been too heavy. It’s crushed my future. Sutton Hayes,” he used my full maiden name, the name he’d stripped from me for decades, “I don’t have another forty years to waste. Please, just let me go.” He forgot, of course, that the mangling of that leg was the only reason he ever escaped the dead-end farms and secured that coveted Union appointment, the one that guaranteed his comfortable retirement today. The cruel reality hit me like a physical blow, leaving a taste of blood in my throat. I swallowed it down. “Fine,” I said, my voice steady. “But you walk out with nothing.” Except, when the judge revealed the asset disclosures, there was less than two thousand dollars remaining in our accounts. The rest? Travis had systematically drained it for two decades, sending continuous, undisclosed payments to fund the private-school education and trust fund of Cassidy’s son—his ‘perfect memory’s’ child. My vision went black, and I felt myself pitching forward. The last thing I saw was Travis, not rushing to catch me, but his tear-filled eyes locked on the gallery, desperately seeking out Cassidy, his first, true love, his perfect memory. When I next opened my eyes, I was back. Back to the exact day I was scheduled to sign the final paperwork, exchanging my crippled leg for Travis’s guaranteed job and city status. This time, I didn’t hesitate. I chose the massive, life-changing financial settlement and a ticket to the medical mecca of Boston for treatment. Travis, I was cutting you loose. Sink or swim, but you will not drag me down with you. … I sat, shell-shocked, in the Human Resources office of the old Raleigh Textile Plant. The suffocating despair from the courtroom—from my past life—still clung to my chest like static. Bethany, the HR sister who’d always looked out for me, kept sighing, trying to talk me out of it. “Sweetie, are you absolutely sure you want to pass up the full disability settlement for just the spousal transfer? For his job?” She frowned, stacking the thick files. “It’s not my place to tell you what to do, Sutton, but some things—like cash—are only yours when you hold them. Once this confirmation is submitted, there’s no going back. That money goes to the plant.” I stared at the paperwork on the desk. I, Sutton Hayes, voluntarily waive all rights to a disability settlement and all compensation from the Textile Plant. My sole demand is that the Plant resolve the city transfer and Union Appointment for my husband, Travis Hayes. The job, the transfer, the city life—everything he desperately craved was laid out on the table. My mind replayed the memory of him kneeling before me, forty years ago, his eyes swimming with what I thought was love. “Sutton, you only lost a leg, but I will devote my life to you. I swear it.” “Please, give me this chance to stay in the city, to secure our future. Only then can we be together forever.” I never dreamed that his promise of “forever” would be nothing more than a cheap, ill-written script. The minute the curtain fell, the minute he retired, he walked out and filed the suit. Before court, he’d stood over me, his words cold and flat. “Sutton Hayes, I hate that I sacrificed my dignity and my true heart for that job and transfer. I married you, and I missed out on the one person I was meant to be with.” “I endured you for forty years. I’m not wasting another minute.” My brain, self-punishing, kept looping the image of him running, relieved, to Cassidy. Tears, hot and sudden, spilled over. They splattered onto my left thigh, a sharp jolt of pain pulling me back from the horrific trance. I wiped my face with the back of my hand, reached for the Waiver and Transfer Form that Bethany held out to me. Then, without another thought, I tore it in half, then into quarters, then into unreadable shreds. “Bethany, you’re right,” I said, my voice strong for the first time in four decades. “I don’t want the spousal appointment. I want the full disability settlement.” I pushed the scraps back across the desk. “I also want to petition for an immediate, extended leave of absence. I’m going to Boston. To fix my leg.” Stepping out of HR, I immediately saw Travis standing by the Plant entrance. And just behind him, partially hidden, was the perfect memory—Cassidy. A cold, hard sneer crossed my face. Travis, this leg, the one that has crippled my life for decades, will no longer be your stepping stone. I wonder if you two can manage to be as miserable as you were the first time around. Seeing me emerge, Travis’s eyes flashed with urgency. He rushed forward a few steps, lowering his voice. “Sutton, did you sign it? Where is my Appointment Letter?” I gripped my aluminum cane tightly, leaning back a deliberate half-step. My eyes landed directly on Cassidy’s face, which was peeking out from behind Travis’s shoulder. “What is she doing here?” I asked, my voice chilling. Cassidy scoffed, her eyes sweeping over me before landing pointedly on my immobile leg. She gave a little upturn of her lips—a hint of viciousness—but her voice was soft, laced with false weakness. “Oh, Sutton, honey, I just heard your injury can’t be fixed. That you’ll be on that cane for the rest of your life.” She sighed theatrically. “I just wanted to come comfort you. But if I’ve made you upset, I’ll leave right away.” Travis frowned, stepping protectively in front of Cassidy. He fought to mask the clear impatience in his eyes, but his voice was already tinged with ice. “Don’t make a scene, Sutton. Leave Cassidy alone.” He softened his tone, trying to sound reassuring, manipulative. “Look, I secured the job and the transfer. I’ll marry you. I don’t care if you have to use that cane for life, I don’t mind.” I let a harsh, dry laugh escape my lips. They were so sure. They were both convinced I would waive the cash, that I’d be forced to remain dependent on him, a permanently disabled woman with no money for proper treatment. But in my previous life, less than a year after the wedding, Travis had claimed his new job was too demanding and moved out of our home and into the employee dorms. He never touched me. I remember once, in my pathetic desperation, wanting to try to conceive a child to anchor him to me. But he wouldn’t even come near my bed. It wasn’t until the night Cassidy got married that he came home drunk, stumbling through the door. He threw the liquor bottle at my twisted, ugly leg, his voice venomous and cold. “Do you know what people say about me behind my back? They pity me! They say I had to crawl to a cripple just to get a decent life!” “You’re not a woman! You look like a monster! Sutton Hayes, the sight of you is disgusting.” God, the sheer revulsion. I squeezed my eyes shut, choking down the burning acid of that memory. When I looked at him again, the last embers of forty years of resentment were gone. All that remained was cold, surgical mockery. “Travis,” I said, making sure every word landed like a tiny knife point. “Did you want the Appointment Letter so you could marry me, or so you could get your hands on the Plant’s Union transfer and city status?” Travis’s face instantly went pale, his composure shattered. He stared at me, disbelief warring with humiliation, rage, and a sudden, panicked fear. Having been his wife, I knew exactly where to twist the blade. His pride, his carefully constructed reputation—it all lay under my heel. He clenched his jaw, about to speak. But Cassidy burst out, shrieking, and hurled herself toward me. My injured leg couldn’t take the sudden impact. I collapsed hard onto the cement, my left thigh cracking with a fresh burst of pain. The blood immediately began to seep, staining the denim of my jeans. Cassidy was crying, pointing down at me, her voice shaking with righteous fury. “Sutton Hayes, how dare you humiliate Travis like that!” “Do you think all of us who grew up in the country have no dignity? Do we have to put up with your insults? He already agreed to marry you! What else do you want?” She wept, positioning herself as a shield in front of Travis, ready to sacrifice herself for his honor. I struggled, splayed on the ground, unable to get up. The crumpled, voided Appointment Letter, which I had somehow managed to hold onto, slipped from my pocket and landed near my head. Travis’s eyes lit up. He snatched the paper from the ground. He devoured the few lines of text, his fingers visibly trembling. Finally, his gaze drifted back to me. “I’ll be at the Registrar’s office tomorrow morning…” As he spoke, Cassidy made a show of trying to help me up, but her shoe ground itself heavily onto my already throbbing, injured thigh. She leaned close, her eyes filled with the cold venom of a viper. The pain, coupled with the outrage, made me tremble uncontrollably. I lunged to push her away, but before I could make contact, she staggered backward, letting out a piercing scream. “Sutton! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have lost my temper!” she wailed, clutching her side. “You can hit me all you want! It’s my fault! I was just so worried he wouldn’t get the letter after all his hard work getting back from the country, and that you were deliberately trying to hurt him.” Cassidy’s calculated fall sent Travis into a total frenzy. He quickly pulled her into his arms, anxiously checking her over. Then, he turned on me, his grip tight on my arm, his voice a guttural, ugly sound torn from his lungs. “Sutton Hayes, what in God’s name are you doing?!” “Apologize to Cassidy. Now.” I yanked my arm away. The extreme surge of emotion left me hyperventilating, my voice shaking. “Apologize for what?” Travis held the weeping Cassidy close, his cold, flat gaze sweeping over my entire body. I met his stare with my own, my eyes burning with a blinding, desperate hatred. “Travis, what gives you the right?” He flinched, instinctively reaching out to help me, lying there bleeding on the pavement. But Cassidy whimpered in his arms. “Sutton, please, don’t hurt him like this. He worked so hard to get back from the farm, he’s suffered so much. Just help him. You lost a leg, but without this chance, Travis will lose the rest of his entire life.” Travis snapped back to attention. He looked down at Cassidy, his expression a mixture of profound tenderness and complex guilt. “Cassidy… thank you.” How bitterly laughable. I was the one who was permanently damaged, the one who sacrificed my future, yet his entire focus was on her, moved by a few simple, self-serving words. I forced myself to sit up despite the searing pain, firing back a question, my voice thick with derision. “By what right do you demand anything of me? Cassidy, don’t overestimate your importance.” Before I could finish, Travis cut me off with a high, contemptuous laugh. “Sutton Hayes, the one who’s overestimating her importance is you.” He dropped the final hammer. “Who else is going to take on a dependent, jobless cripple now, Sutton? Besides me?” With that, Travis folded the Appointment Letter, tucked it into his shirt pocket, and, without a glance at my bleeding, injured body, took Cassidy’s hand and strode away. Snuggled into his side, Cassidy turned back and gave me a smirk, a triumphant curve of her lips. I watched their backs recede, then slowly, painfully, used the wall to pull myself up. I wiped the last of the tears from my face and drew my eyes inward, cold and remote. Travis. Did you really think one signed-but-voided piece of paper would guarantee you everything you want? Dream on. The next day, I finalized the last of my paperwork—the extended leave and the full disability settlement. As I headed out, I saw Travis again. He was standing motionless by the Plant gate, his face like a thundercloud, his eyes dark with simmering rage as they tracked me. Cassidy was quick to intercept. She rushed at me, her hand raised to strike. “Sutton Hayes, why would you destroy my reputation! Why would you spread those lies about me being married and having a child in the country!” “I hope you die!” I didn’t expect the blow. The slap landed hard, my head ringing. I raised my own hand, ready to strike back without thinking. But Travis grabbed my arm, his fingers digging in like a vice. He pinned me to the spot. “Sutton Hayes, I dare you to touch Cassidy!” Cassidy stopped crying, her head buried in his chest. She gave me a silent, vicious smirk over his shoulder. The suppressed anger of two lifetimes erupted. I tore my arm free. My eyes burned with a desperate fury, wanting to rip them both to shreds. In the struggle, Travis shoved me down. My suitcase went flying, its contents scattering on the ground. “Enough!” he roared. “Sutton Hayes, you destroyed Cassidy’s name with your rumors. You cost her the job she was just about to get. As compensation, I am not going to marry you. I’m going to marry Cassidy. This is what you owe her!” I bit down hard on my lower lip until I could taste metal. So, this was his grand plan? Trick me into waiving the settlement, secure the Appointment Letter, and then, presuming I was alone and helpless, abandon me and marry his perfect memory, all while claiming moral superiority? His careful scheme that ruined my previous life, leaving me broken and alone. Not this time. I swallowed the bloody taste in my mouth, painfully climbed back to my feet, and retrieved my suitcase. Travis reached out to stop me, but Cassidy subtly blocked him. “Travis, we need to get to the Plant Manager’s office right now for your enrollment.” She turned to me, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Sutton, honey, she’s just throwing a temper tantrum. She’ll come around once she accepts that you’ve moved on.” Behind me, Travis’s voice was low and heavy. “Sutton Hayes, apologize to Cassidy. If you do, I’ll still look out for you, for old times’ sake. Otherwise, you’ll regret this.” I managed a mocking twist of my lips. I didn’t look back as I walked away. Travis stared at my retreating back, his eyes dark and unreadable. Inside the Plant Manager’s office. Travis stood before Mr. Thompson, his hand cradling the cherished Appointment Letter. Beside him, Cassidy’s face was bright with expectation, already picturing their new city life. “Mr. Thompson, here it is. Which line are you putting me on?” Travis asked, a note of nervous reverence in his voice. The Plant Manager glanced at the thin sheet of paper, then offered a small, knowing chuckle. Travis frowned, struggling to maintain his composure. “Sir, I’m the spouse of Ms. Sutton Hayes. She was injured on the job and lost a leg for the Plant. This is my…” The word ‘compensation’ died in his throat. Travis’s attention had fixed on the document Mr. Thompson slid across the desk. It was the full Disability Settlement Confirmation—signed and stamped—the one I had torn up and then been given a clean copy of. His face went stiff. He snatched the paper, his eyes frantically scanning the text, his chest heaving. His voice was a choked, rasping sound. “Waived the spousal appointment and took the twenty thousand dollar settlement…?” “No. That’s impossible, Mr. Thompson. She promised me! She swore she would give me the job! I don’t believe it. The Plant must have forged this! I don’t believe it!” Mr. Thompson’s expression hardened. “Hardly. The Plant doesn’t forge signatures for a single Union Appointment.” He leaned forward. “You claim Ms. Hayes transferred her compensation to you. So, where is she? And, more importantly, what proof do you have that you are Ms. Hayes’s family? To my knowledge, Ms. Hayes worked here diligently for years, entirely focused on production, and has never married.” Travis’s knees buckled. He fell heavily into the chair behind him. He had no proof. In fact, he had just publicly announced he was going to marry Cassidy, not me. He had stood there, moments ago, high and mighty, warning me I’d regret my choices. The fog of smug excitement lifted from Travis’s brain. In one blinding flash of awareness, he saw all the details he had ignored in his haste to secure the Union Appointment. He realized the entire time, he had never been in control. And now, Sutton, the woman who had believed him, the woman who had loved him, had simply walked away and taken the table with her. His greedy, entitled scheme—his attempt to have his job, his wife, and his perfect memory—had become a pathetic joke. Travis gripped the Settlement Confirmation, his heart finally, truly, sinking into pure panic.