When I got a $640K job offer, I thought my wife would be thrilled. Instead, her shocking response was for me to turn down the job, and her reason made me question everything about our ten-year marriage — and now I’m facing one of the hardest decisions of my life.
I got the job offer of a lifetime last week. Six hundred and forty grand a year. That’s not a typo. My current gig pays two-fifty, which ain’t bad, but this? This was life-changing money.
But Sarah’s face fell. “Overseas? How long would you be gone?”
“Four months at a time,” I admitted. “But it’s only for a year or two. Think of what we could do with that money!”
Sarah shook her head. “Jack, that’s a long time to be apart. I don’t like it.”
I was stunned. “But… don’t you see the opportunity here? We could set ourselves up for life!”
“I need to think about this,” she said, walking out of the room.
I followed her to the kitchen. “Sarah, come on. This is huge for us.”
She whirled around, her eyes flashing. “Us? Did you even consider how I’d feel about this before you got all excited?”
“I thought you’d be happy,” I said, taken aback by her anger.
“Happy that my husband wants to leave me for months at a time? Yeah, I’m thrilled,” she snapped.
I held up my hands. “Whoa, I’m not leaving you. It’s just a job.”
Sarah sighed, her shoulders sagging. “I know. I’m sorry. I just… I need some time to process this, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, watching her walk away. Something felt off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
***
Over the next week, Sarah got weird. Real weird. She’d start talking, then trail off mid-sentence, staring into space. Her phone became an extension of her hand, and she’d tilt the screen away whenever I walked by.
One night, I caught her texting someone at 2 a.m. “Who are you talking to?” I asked.
“Just Emma,” she said quickly, locking her phone. “Go back to sleep.”
But I couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Sarah started going out more, claiming she was running errands or needed to clear her head. These “errands” took hours.
I tried talking to her about the job again, but she’d change the subject or get irritated. “Can we not do this right now?” she’d snap.
After a few days of this, I decided to talk to my best friend, David. We met up at our usual bar after work.
“I don’t know what to do, man,” I said, nursing my beer. “Sarah’s acting like I’m abandoning her or something.”
David took a swig of his drink. “Have you guys been having problems?”
I shook my head. “No, everything was fine until this job offer came up.”
“Maybe she’s scared,” David suggested. “Four months is a long time.”
“But it’s not forever,” I argued. “And think of what we could do with that money.”
David gave me a long look. “Is the money worth risking your marriage?”
His words hit me hard. Was I being selfish? I spent the rest of the night mulling it over.
When I got home, Sarah was on the couch, scrolling through her phone. She barely looked up when I walked in.
“Hey,” I said, sitting next to her. “Can we talk?”
She sighed, putting her phone down. “About what?”
“About us. About this job. I feel like we’re not connecting on this.”
Sarah’s eyes welled up with tears. “I don’t want to lose you, Jack.”
I took her hand. “You’re not losing me. It’s just a job.”
“But what if…” she trailed off, looking away.
“What if what?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Forget it.”
I squeezed her hand. “No, tell me. What’s really bothering you?”
Sarah took a deep breath. “What if you meet someone else over there? What if you decide you don’t want to come back?”
I was floored. “Is that what you’ve been worried about? Sarah, I love you. No job or anyone else is going to change that.”
She gave me a weak smile. “Promise?”
“I promise,” I said, pulling her into a hug.
For a moment, I thought we’d turned a corner. But over the next few days, Sarah’s behavior got even stranger.
One afternoon, I came home early from work and found her on the phone, speaking in hushed tones.
“I can’t talk right now,” she whispered. “I’ll call you back later.”
When she saw me, she jumped, nearly dropping her phone. “Jack! You scared me. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Who was that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual.
“Oh, just… a telemarketer,” she said, not meeting my eyes.
I knew she was lying, but I didn’t push it. Instead, I watched her more closely over the next few days. The secret phone calls continued. The long “errands” became more frequent.
After a week of this, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Sarah, what’s going on? You’ve been acting strange ever since I told you about the job offer.”
She sighed, looking down at her hands. “I need to talk to you about something.”
My stomach dropped. “Okay…”
“I don’t want you to take that job,” she said firmly.
“Why not? Is it the distance? We can make it work, I promise.”
Sarah shook her head. “It’s not just that. If you’re gone for that long… I might need company.”
I blinked, not getting it. “Well, yeah, you can hang out with your friends, family. Hell, we could finally get that dog you’ve been wanting.”
“No, Jack,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I mean… male company.”
The room started spinning. “What are you saying?”
Sarah looked me in the eye. “I’m saying I can’t go that long without… physical intimacy. If you take this job, you need to understand that I might need someone else to fulfill those needs while you’re gone.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. “Are you… are you saying you’d cheat on me?”
“I’m trying to be honest with you,” she said. “I don’t want to, but I don’t know if I can handle being alone for that long.”
My legs were shaky all of a sudden. “I understand completely.”
Sarah looked relieved. “You do?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I understand that our marriage is over.”
Her face crumpled. “What? No, Jack, that’s not what I meant!”
But I was already walking out the door. “I’ll be at David’s. Don’t call me.”
I spent the night at David’s place, trying to process what had happened. David listened as I poured my heart out.
“I can’t believe she’d even consider cheating,” I said, pacing back and forth. “How can I trust her now?”
David sighed, running a hand over his bald head. “Look, man, I’m not defending what she said, but maybe you should hear her out. People say stupid things when they’re scared.”
I shook my head. “No, this isn’t just about what she said. It’s about what she’s capable of thinking. How can I build a future with someone who’d throw it all away because she’s lonely?”
“I get it,” David said. “But ten years of marriage… that’s a lot to throw away over one conversation.”
I collapsed onto his couch. “I know. But how do I get past this? How do I look at her the same way?”
David shrugged. “I don’t have all the answers, man. But I think you owe it to yourself and your marriage to at least talk to her before you make any big decisions.”
I nodded, but in my heart, I knew it was over. The trust was broken, and I couldn’t see a way to rebuild it.
The next morning, my phone was flooded with texts and missed calls from Sarah. I ignored them all and went to work, where I told my boss I’d accept the overseas position.
When I got home that evening, Sarah was there, her eyes red and puffy. “Jack, please, let me explain. I didn’t mean what I said. I would never cheat on you!”
“Then why’d you say it?” I asked, my voice cold.
She wrung her hands. “I was scared. The thought of you being gone for so long… I panicked. I thought if I said something extreme, you’d turn down the job.”
I laughed sadly. “Well, I haven’t decided about the job. But I have made a decision about us: I’m leaving you.”
Sarah’s face paled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m filing for divorce,” I said. “I can’t be with someone who’d even consider cheating, no matter the reason.”
She broke down, sobbing. “Please, Jack, don’t do this. I love you. We can work this out!”
But my mind was made up. “Pack your things. You can stay with Emma until we sort this out legally.”
As Sarah left, I felt a twinge of doubt. Was I making the right decision? But then I remembered her words, how easily she’d considered betraying our vows, and my resolve hardened.
The next day, I met with a lawyer to start the divorce proceedings. As I signed the preliminary paperwork, I couldn’t help but think about the future I’d imagined for us just a week ago.
“You sure about this?” the lawyer asked, noticing my hesitation.
I nodded. “Yeah. Sometimes the hardest decisions are the right ones.”
As I left the lawyer’s office, my phone buzzed. It was my boss confirming the details of my new position overseas. I took a deep breath and texted back: “I’m in. When do I start?”
What would you have done? If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you about a woman who rejected her sister’s rich fiancé’s job offer, not realizing it would turn her life upside down.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
I rushed home to tell Sarah, my wife of ten years. “Babe, you’re not gonna believe this,” I said, bursting through the door.
Sarah looked up from her laptop, her brow furrowed. “What’s going on, Jack?”
“I got offered a new job. It’s overseas, but get this — it pays six-forty a year.”
Her eyes widened. “Six hundred and forty thousand dollars?”
I nodded, grinning like an idiot. “Can you believe it? We could pay off all our debts, buy that house you’ve been eyeing, travel during my time off…”
