I wasn’t sure why she suddenly came to me, but I was exhausted and didn’t want to say anything to her. Standing at the door, her face changed several times before she slammed the door and said, "Fine, no chat then."
That’s how she always was—hitting me with a stick, then offering a sweet treat afterward.
At first, I didn’t understand why she treated me with such hot and cold behavior until one day, I overheard her talking to Leon. Leon had said to her, "I'm a man too and I know men well. You can't treat him too nicely. Men are born to be lowly. Give them a little attention and they’ll light up like a star. Got it?"
Then, they both burst into laughter. Leon fell into her arms and she hugged him, saying, "But aren’t you a man, too? Should I not treat you too well either?"
"Get outta here. I’m not the same. If you treat me like that, watch out or I'll give you a beating." Leon wrapped his arm around her neck, their closeness unmistakable. Back then, I thought Karen took it as a joke. But I forgot, she always listened to Leon.
The next day, I sent Karen a message, asking her to meet me at a café so we could talk about divorce and the child.