My Husband's 99th Hotel Room

My husband, Derek Whitmore, was working late when I received a notification about my hotel membership tier upgrade.

Thank you for your 99th purchase of a couple's room. Your membership has been upgraded to Black Gold status.

Additionally, you have been gifted one complimentary night in our Presidential Suite, valued at $8,000.

I sat in the room for a long moment before calling him.

"You've been using my card to book hotel rooms, haven't you?"

On the other end of the line, I heard the sound of running water from a shower.

"Yeah, I've been working late today. I'm not coming homejust staying at a hotel near the office."

I hung up and scrolled through the booking history on that card with trembling hands.

Every single reservation was for various themed couple's rooms.

There was a Bunny Cave room, a room with an adult swing set.

Soon after, Derek sent me a text:

"I've been working a lot of overtime lately. I'll make it up to you when I get home, you little temptress."

I replied:

"When you get back, we're getting divorced."

"Lynn Smith, what's that supposed to mean?"

Derek was silent for a long while before responding.

Then came a barrage of messages.

"You're still pregnant. Don't get upset. I know I've been working too much overtime latelythat's on me. Once this busy period is over, I'll spend quality time with you. How about we go on a trip?"

"If you don't like me staying in these kinds of rooms, I can just crash at an internet cafe for the night. It's the same thing. Lynn, please don't scare me with messages like that, okay?"

I gripped my phone tightly and closed my eyes. Then I replied:

"No need, Derek. You don't have to say any of this. We're definitely getting divorced."

He quickly sent a voice message:

"Honey, are you under too much stress from the pregnancy? I know you used to be childfree, and deciding to have a baby for me took a lot of courage..."

Before I could finish listening to the voice message, a video call came through.

After I hung up on him several times, Derek finally lost control, his tone tinged with anger.

"Lynn! Even if I've been working overtime and neglecting your feelings, that's no reason to talk about divorce!"

"We've been together for years! If you have issues with me, you can tell me. We can talk it through. Why would you hurt me like this?"

"Please, just answer my call, okay?"

I looked at his words and couldn't help but laugh bitterly. I slowly typed out a few words.

"No reason?"

"There's plenty of reason, Derek."

After seeing those words, Derek's next voice message had a colder tone.

"I'm doing all of this for you and the baby so we can have a better life. Do you really have to pick a fight with me?"

"Don't bother. I don't care. Neither does the baby."

While talking to him, I had already logged into his shopping account.

Sure enough, there were many gifts that didn't belong to me.

From designer handbags, jewelry, and skincare products to more discreet adult items.

He'd even used a secondary account to buy these things, afraid I'd catch him.

I took a deep breath, forcing down my trembling.

Part of me wanted to scream and fight, but when I thought about it, there really was no point.

For two people to reach this endingit was enough.

We were adults now. Hysteria would be too ugly.

I absently touched my belly, feeling sorry for this child.

My phone kept buzzing, but Derek didn't come home all night.

The next day, as soon as I arrived at the office, I saw Derek in the reception room at the front desk.

When he saw my red, swollen eyes, he froze, then showed obvious heartache.

He walked over quickly, took my hand, his voice hoarse and reeking of cigarettes.

"Lynn, what's going on?"

It was clear he'd been smoking all night.

But I knew his night had probably been quite exciting and stimulating.

After all, it was a couple's suiteover eight hundred dollars a night.

I calmly pulled my hand away and turned to leave. Derek quickly blocked my path.

"You can't just refuse to communicate, Lynn. I'm begging youI didn't sleep all night."

Since he insisted on discussing our private matters at my workplace, I looked him straight in the eye and spoke concisely.

"We're getting divorced. Which part don't you understand?"

At the same time, our argument drew subtle glances from my coworkers.

"Isn't that the guy grabbing Lynn... a senior executive from Vanstar next door? I think he's even a director."

"Yeah, I saw him when I was negotiating a contract. Super handsomereally memorable. What did he just say? Divorce?"

"Lynn's been married for years, right? I had no idea her husband was him. Why would she divorce such a handsome husband?"

Hearing the whispers around us, Derek stepped closer and spoke in a low voice.

"Even if we're getting divorced, you at least owe me a reason."

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, my expression was calm.

"We don't have feelings for each other anymore. Isn't that enough?"

Derek froze, his eyes immediately reddening, completely unable to accept it.

"Lynn, you can fool other people with that line, but can you really fool yourself?"

"I just worked late on a project and found a place nearby to rest. Why are you doing this?"

"If it bothers you, I can adjust my work schedule going forward. Everything will revolve around youI'm willing to do anything."

He looked at me with such deep affection, creating the illusion that he loved me so much and I was the unreasonable one.

I stared at his face, remembering countless moments between us.

The person I loved seemed rotten from the bones out.

After he said this, my coworkers looked at me differently, thinking I was being harsh.

It seemed no one understood why I would give up such a handsome husband just because he didn't come home one night.

But I really didn't want to explain.

Just then, another woman walked through the company's front door.

She wore a sharp business suit that accentuated her curvy figure.

It was my best friend, Rachel Brown.

She rushed in anxiously, and when she saw me, her face filled with concern as she hurried over.

"Lynn, what's going on?"

She and Derek exchanged a glance, then both looked at me with concern.

Seeing that I wasn't responding, Rachel pulled me aside.

"If you're feeling wronged, just tell me. I'll help you deal with him!"

"But isn't divorce over working late a bit hasty? Lynn, I was unemployed before, and you were the one who recommended me to Derek's company."

"I promised I'd help you keep an eye on him, and I've kept my word. He's never done anything to betray youI can vouch for that!"

Derek also looked at me, his eyes full of hurt and disappointment at being doubted.

Listening to Rachel's endless chatter and looking at Derek, I felt nothing but mockery in my heart.

"No need. I just don't want to live with him anymore. There's no other reason."

I cut off Rachel's words, not wanting to spare another glance at either of them, and turned to leave.

Seeing that there would be no resolution through discussion, Derek simply followed me and suddenly dropped to his knees.

"Lynn! Even if you're in a rush to divorce me to get the family assets to buy your brother a house, you could at least discuss it with me!"

"I'm willing to help pay for Carter's college and his future housingjust please don't divorce me, okay?"

His words caused an uproar, and the gossip spread like wildfire.

"What's going on? Is Lynn a brother-obsessed woman? I never noticed."

"Who knows? These types are the hardest to spot."

"Her husband has already said this muchif she still wants a divorce, she's really terrible!"

I was completely stunned and turned back to meet his eyes in shock.

"...What did you just say?!"

As the surrounding chatter intensified, I shouted out loud in anger.

"Derek! What does my divorce from you have to do with my brother? I never wanted a cent of your money!"

"After all these years together, is this how you see me? What do you take me for?!"

But Derek just looked at me with tears in his eyes, as if in extreme pain.

"...Then what's your reason? Lynn, I can't accept that it's because you don't love me!"

Seeing that my earlier words hadn't won over my coworkers and instead made them look at me with even more contempt, I just wanted to end this farce as quickly as possible.

"Get up now! Haven't you embarrassed me enough at my workplace?! I don't want this to get any uglier! Get up!"

But my inability to provide any other legitimate reason only made people more suspicious.

As if I was divorcing him purely for money.

I didn't bother explaining further and just tried to make him leave.

"Leave my office immediately! I have work to do! Can you please stop causing me trouble?!"

Derek, being pushed away by me, let his tears fall.

Then, looking utterly pitiful, he pulled out a bank card and choked out:

"Lynn, I'm giving you all my money! All of it, okay? I'm begging you, don't divorce me..."

I took the bank card and threw it right out the front door, shouting angrily.

"Get out! I don't want it!"

Rachel seemed to have never seen me this angry in all these years. She stammered before speaking.

"Lynn..."

I was so angry that the veins on my forehead were throbbing. I pointed toward the door, suppressing my rage.

"Rachel, if you still consider me a friend, take him away right now! Isn't this embarrassing enough?!"

After Rachel led the dejected Derek away, the entire office lobby fell silent.

I pressed my throbbing temples, feeling utterly exhausted.

Although my coworkers returned to their desks, their eyes still occasionally fell on me.

Not long after I sat back down, my manager came over.

"I heard about what happened at the front desk today. Lynn, I've always trusted your work over the years. Why did you bring your personal problems here this time?"

I knew he was both reminding me and unable to resist gossiping.

"It's nothingjust an argument. I'm sorry, Mr. Lee. This won't happen again."

I responded flatly and returned to my desk, but my work was affected all afternoon, leaving me somewhat distracted.

When I finished work and headed home with the divorce papers I'd printed at the office, ready to wait for Derek to sign them, Derek still hadn't returned.

Just as I was about to go to his office, Rachel called. Her voice was urgent and anxious.

"Lynn, where are you?! Get to the rooftop of Derek's office building nowsomething's wrong!"

I frowned, about to ask what happened.

The next moment, her words hit me like a thunderbolt.

"Derek can't accept divorcing you and went up to the company rooftop! I'm afraid he might do something drasticI'm trying to talk him down!"

"What?!"

I nearly choked and immediately drove to the Vanstar building.

By now, the building was surrounded by layers of onlookers.

The fire department was there. The police were there.

And Derek's mother, the moment she saw me, slapped me across the face, crying and cursing.

"This is all because of you! Lynn, if anything happens to my son, I'll never forgive you!"

My head snapped to the side from the blow, and I looked up to see Derek on the rooftop.

Derek's father was also cursing nearby.

"How could my son marry such a heartless woman?! How could you treat him like this?!"

At the same time, my parents and brother arrived after being notified by the police.

When my mom saw the handprint on my face, she became furious and confronted Derek's mother.

"I've never laid a hand on my daughter, not once in her entire life! What gives you the right?!"

My dad and my brother, who had just finished his college entrance exams, stood protectively in front of me.

"Lynn..."

My brother looked at me with concern, worried there might be more to the story. I shook my head, holding back tears.

"Mom! Don't hit Lynn! I'm only doing this because I want to know the reason!"

Derek, seeing me get slapped, quickly tried to stop his mother.

I looked up at him and spoke into the megaphone.

"Derek, I'm here now. Come down."

Derek's face lit up with joy.

The next moment, I spoke directly.

"Come down and sign the divorce papers. We're getting divorced."