“You’ll wish you had sold,” Bart said, “when your father’s bad investments tank and come home to roost. You’ll start losing money, and wish you’d gotten rid of the business when you could.” He predicted defeat at every turn, and never success. It was demoralizing, which was his intention. “I could see your working there when your grandfather was alive, and even to support your father, but running the store now is a whole other statement,” he said. “It makes you look power-hungry and tough.” He never had a kind word to say about the job she was doing or acknowledged how hard it was at times. His own job on Wall Street was demanding but not exciting, and not as big a job as hers. He was an anonymous investment advisor in a large investment firm. He had none of the glory and attention she was getting as a young and promising CEO. He was angry at Spencer all the time, jealous of everything she did.
“I’m the fourth generation in a family business, Bart. Why does that bug you so much?” She was kind and loving to him. And he never had a decent word to say to her.
“I wanted a wife and a mother for my children, not a CEO. It’s like being married to a man.” Some of the things he said cut her to the quick, and she tried not to let it show. She didn’t crow to him about her successes, so as not to bruise his ego, but she didn’t want to be beaten down by him either. It was all he did now.
“I’m not going to sell,” she reiterated, holding firm. “What do you want to do about it?” she said to him softly one morning over breakfast. She kept hoping he would adjust to her new position. She tried to make it as unobtrusive for him as possible, but it was what it was. And she was doing a good job.
“I want you to sell the store, if you want to save our marriage,” he said bluntly, and she looked shocked. He had never put it quite that clearly.
“Are you telling me you’ll divorce me if I don’t sell the store?” she asked, looking him directly in the eyes. She didn’t like the anger and jealousy she saw there, and she was tired of it.
“I guess I am,” he said coldly. “It’s only going to get worse between us if you keep the store.” Their sex life had dwindled to nothing once she became CEO. It was as though the very idea emasculated him and he no longer found her attractive. If anything, he found the whole idea repellent. She didn’t want to force herself on him, and although she was young and beautiful, he never wanted to make love to her anymore. He never told her she was pretty or acted like he noticed it.
“You’re not giving me much choice,” she said with a chill in her voice. Something in her had finally snapped.
“Yes, I am. You can sell the store if you want this marriage. Or you can keep the store and lose me.” For the first time, she wondered if he was cheating on her. But in the weeks after he said it to her, she realized that even if she sold the store, it wouldn’t save their marriage. He was too bitter now, and too competitive with her. Every day was a contest as to who was the most successful. They both knew she was, and he would never forgive her for it. He did well at his job, but it was just a job, and for Spencer the store was a lifelong passion, and a legacy from her grandfather. Nothing could induce her to give that up, or to betray her grandfather’s memory by selling the store. And she wanted to keep it now for her sons.
She conceded defeat a month later, after thinking it over seriously. There was nothing left to salvage. Bart had lost all goodwill toward her, and compassion for her, and even physical attraction to her. He just saw her as some kind of robot or mannequin wearing what she brought home from the store. He didn’t see her as beautiful anymore, and she could feel it. He was too jealous of her to love her. It was obvious he no longer did, if he ever had. She doubted it now. But whatever he had felt for her was gone. It was chilling to be around him. Everything that had originally attracted him to her, her energy, her entrepreneurial skills, her brain, were what he resented and made him appear to hate her now. She felt detested by him most of the time. And he treated her with anger, disrespect, and disdain, to punish her for her success.
The idea of bringing up the twins alone was daunting. But being married to a man who resented her every hour of every day wasn’t appealing either. In the end, it was Spencer who filed the divorce. By the time she did, she had accepted the demise of their two-year marriage as unavoidable, and maybe even predictable, although she hadn’t seen it in the beginning. He wanted to control her and deprive her of the store. It was different in the beginning. He had actually seemed as though he admired and respected her. Now it was clear he no longer did. She wasn’t what he expected of a wife and mother. The ground rules had changed once she had the twins.