SZ BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Larry’s patience ends—he hands Bethany divorce papers, demanding her signature. Read More Full Story in 1ST COMMENT 👇

 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Larry’s patience ends—he hands Bethany divorce papers, demanding her signature.

The morning it happened, the house was too quiet.

Not the peaceful kind of quiet—the kind that hums, sharp and tense, like the air before a storm. Larry stood in the doorway of the kitchen, still in his work jacket, keys clenched in his fist. The sun had barely risen, spilling pale light across the countertops Bethany had wiped obsessively the night before, as if cleanliness could fix what had been rotting for years.

Bethany sat at the table, coffee untouched, scrolling her phone with the same absent stare she’d worn for months. She didn’t look up when Larry cleared his throat.

“Beth,” he said. His voice was steady, which scared him more than if it had cracked.

No response.

He took a breath, reached into his jacket, and placed a thick envelope on the table between them. The sound it made—soft, final—cut through the room like glass breaking.

That got her attention.

She looked up slowly, brows knitting together. “What’s that?”

Larry didn’t sit. He didn’t sigh. He didn’t soften his tone the way he always did.

“Divorce papers,” he said. “I need you to sign them.”

For a moment, Bethany just stared, like she hadn’t heard him correctly. Then she laughed—short, disbelieving. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

The word landed heavy. Larry’s jaw tightened. This wasn’t impulsive. This wasn’t anger. This was exhaustion that had calcified into resolve.

“You don’t get to just decide this,” Bethany snapped, pushing the envelope away as if it burned. “We’re married.”

“Barely,” Larry shot back. “We’ve been roommates for years. Strangers who argue about dishes and bills and pretend that’s intimacy.”

Her face flushed. “So that’s it? One bad phase and you’re done?”

“One bad phase?” His voice rose now, years of swallowed frustration clawing its way out. “Bethany, you stopped showing up. You stopped caring. Every conversation turns into a battlefield or a dead end.”

She stood abruptly, chair scraping the floor. “You think this is all my fault?”

“I think I’ve waited long enough,” Larry said. His hands were shaking now, but he didn’t hide them. “I asked for counseling. I asked for honesty. I asked you to meet me halfway. You promised, over and over, and nothing ever changed.”

Bethany’s eyes glistened, but her pride held the tears back. “You’re giving up.”

“No,” he said quietly. “I gave everything I had. Now I’m choosing myself.”

Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Somewhere down the street, a dog barked. Life, annoyingly, went on.

Bethany looked at the envelope again. This time, she picked it up.

“You planned this,” she whispered.

Larry nodded. “I had to. If I didn’t, I’d keep hoping you’d wake up one day and love me the way you used to.”

Her shoulders sagged, the fight draining out of her. “And if I don’t sign?”

He met her gaze, eyes tired but unwavering. “Then the lawyers will handle it. I don’t want a war, Beth. But I’m not staying.”

She swallowed hard, fingers tightening around the papers. “You didn’t even cry.”

“I did,” he said. “Just not today. Today is the day I stop bleeding.”

Bethany sank back into her chair, the reality finally crashing down. The man she’d taken for granted was gone—not storming out, not yelling, just… done.

Larry turned toward the door, pausing once. “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” he said. “I really do.”

Then he left.

The door clicked shut, echoing through the house like the final punctuation mark at the end of a long, painful sentence. Bethany sat alone at the table, divorce papers spread out before her, coffee now cold, realizing too late that patience, once exhausted, never comes back.