The Roman Walter Effect

Chapter 2

The morning air carried the faint smell of rain and city dust. 

Roman and Mira stood in front of the old apartment block where they had lived since their wedding. Today was the day their lives and terms of their marriage would change. 

Beside him, Mira looked gorgeous as always. A new Dior handbag slung over her shoulder, given by Mario on her last birthday a few months ago. 

It was obvious she was trying to show off.

He glanced at her from the side before calling out to her. 

“Mira, are you absolutely sure you won’t think this through again?” He asked her for the last time. 

She didn’t turn. Her voice was harsh. “There’s nothing left to think about. Let's get this over with so I can be with whoever I want to be with.”

The disgust in her eyes hurt so much that Roman had to look away.

A few seconds later, her phone began to ring inside the designer bag. Mira sighed softly, reached in, and pulled out the latest Samsung Galaxy. She flashed it in front of Roman and then muttered.

“This is what a man should do for his woman.” She scoffed, adoring the phone with ecstasy. 

“My product of flirting with a rich man, talk of when we move in together.” She muttered with pride. Roman stared up, hand on his waist. 

Mira stepped away, Roman watched her back as she answered the call, her tone changing at once from the mean bitch she was seconds ago to a sweet, tender fairy. 

A sound he hadn’t heard in months.

He remembered when that voice had been his, when she would whisper sweet nothing, the same voice that had professed her love for him.

It dawned on him that there was no going back, their relationship had really come to an end.

A few minutes later, they were already boarding the city bus. Roman exhaled as warm he gestured toward the open door for Mira to get in.

The last gentlemanly gesture for this woman. 

Mira stepped in without even sparing a glance at him. 

“Three years ago,” she said softly, “we rode this same bus to register our marriage. Today we're still taking it. Don't you think it's pathetic enough for me to switch to a better man?”

Roman said nothing. 

The bus drove away the moment they stepped in.

She chose a seat by the window, sliding her new bag onto the only available seat Roman was about to sit on. He had to stand, holding on to the iron rod above him. 

The driver turned. “I'll pay for both seats.” She scoffed. 

“The distance is better for us, you need to start getting used to being far from me.” She said to him despite the onlookers and threw away her face. 

At the third stop, the bus came to a halt in front of the gray concrete building Civil Affairs Bureau. Mira elegantly walked out after paying, tapping her phone on the payment machine. Roman paid with cash. His small, button phone couldn't handle the task. 

He followed a few steps behind her, smirking. 

The building was just as he remembered from the day they registered white tiles, lights, and a faint smell of paper and ink. 

That day had been full of laughter and joy. Today, the silence was suffocating.

They presented their written appeal to the clerk of the court. “Sit!” She said to them. 

The clerk looked up from the computer and asked the standard questions.

“Have both parties confirmed this decision after careful consideration? Have your joint assets been settled?”

Before Roman could open his mouth, Mira spoke, as though she had been waiting for that moment.

“Yes, everything’s been discussed. He owns nothing at all. I've been the one sponsoring him all through these years.” 

“As for the rented apartment, some furniture, and a few savings, maybe a few hundred dollars total. I’m leaving all of that to him.” 

“You need that to survive.” She snarled. 

“But you're not divorcing, just open to other partners. Why talk like one?” The clerk asked. 

Mira hesitated before responding. “It should be divorce but I don't wanna hurt him.” 

A massive slap to Roman's face. This hurt even more than divorce. 

Her tone was light, as though she was giving arms to a beggar. Roman caught the faint smile on her lip, the expression of someone who pitied the man she had outgrown.

The clerk nodded, flipping through the documents. “Very well then.”

It took less than ten minutes for the two to have their new marriage agreement approved and stamped. 

Coupled with their signatures, a new life had begun. 

When the clerk handed over the two copies of the open marriage certificates to them, one to each, Roman stared at his copy for a long time. 

“Three years of his love and dedication ending with this?” He asked himself. After all he did, working endlessly, emptying the money to Mira upon her bigger salary, with the promise of a better future which he was certain of, only for her to opt for this. 

Roman stepped out of the building first, taking in a slow breath of cold air. Mira followed, scrolling through her phone as if nothing had happened. 

He turned toward her with a tired smile. “so this is the end?”

“Yeah. Waiting for someone.” She snapped with pride. 

She didn’t even glance up. She slipped the certificate into her bag and took out a small mirror instead, retouching her lipstick.

“Mario?” Roman asked. 

“Of course, who else?” She chuckled. 

He swallowed a big lump. 

“If you knew you would always want to be with him, why did you let me empty all my salary for you? Let me suffer twenty-four seven to work, only for you to dump me…….and…..” His words cut short, anger brewing with heavy, sharp breaths. 

The first time he has obviously showed his anger. 

“You never even let me touch you despite being married. You said I was smelly. That I stink like a mouth even upon taking baths.” 

“We were married yet we shared separate beds. You stayed overnight most of the time. I became your houseboy, cooking for you, washing your clothes.” He balled his fist.

“All I did thinking you would love me……” 

“What's the need of all these….. of all those words?” She barked, cutting him short and stepping faraway from him. 

“If it's because I'm standing nearby,” she murmured, eyeing him. 

Her words and actions hit harder than any bullet could ever. 

“Trashy asshole dustbin man!” She spat at him. 

“I just hope you don't regret this soon.” 

“Who? Me?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Of course, I can't.” She said with pride.