My ex-husband ripped down the wallpaper after our divorce because he “paid for it”—six months later, he called me to say, “I have some important news to share with you.”
My ex-husband and I had shared eight years together. A beautiful house renovated together, two adorable children, and lots of plans. But behind this perfect image, hid a bitter truth: he was cheating on me with his secretary.
When I discovered the messages, the secret meetings, and the lies, I refused at first to believe it. Then I faced reality. He tried to minimize it, to justify it, but nothing could repair this betrayal.
I filed for divorce. He left, leaving me alone with the children and the shattered memories.
One day, while I was at my parents’ house with the children, he came back home to, supposedly, “get some things.” But when I returned, I discovered he’d torn down the living room wallpaper.
The one we’d chosen and hung together after hours of debate. He’d even left a note: “I paid for it, I’ll take it.” As if the past could be bought or undone so easily.
I was furious, but strangely relieved. This petty gesture had opened my eyes: this man was nothing more than a closed chapter.
A month later, when everything seemed to be in the past, Dan called me out of the blue. When I picked up the phone, he said he had something important to tell me…
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— “Hi… I just wanted to say I’m thinking of you… the kids… everything. I miss you.”
There was an unusual fragility in his voice. Perhaps a hint of regret. But for me, it was too late. I was no longer the woman waiting for an apology. I was the one who had rebuilt her life, piece by piece, wall by wall.
— “Dan, I wish you all the happiness in the world, but I’ve moved on.”
And it was true.
I repainted the living room, changed the curtains, and hung colorful paintings. Every detail now reflected my personality, not ours. I even transformed the former marital bedroom into a painting studio—a passion I had long put aside.
A month later, I joined a book club to find some peace. At a party, surrounded by kind women, I recounted the wallpaper incident. Laughter erupted. One woman, Cassie, exclaimed, “A man tearing down wallpaper for revenge? How pathetic!”
Time passed. One day, Cassie proudly introduced me to her fiancé. It was Dan. She didn’t know anything. When I revealed he was my ex-husband, silence fell. And then she realized, “Wait… that wallpaper thing… that was him?”
Dan paled. Cassie, shocked, realized she’d fallen in love with a man far different from who he claimed to be.
