My husband made fun of my weight and left me for fitter and younger woman! But my note…

Rainlight: A Novel

Chapter One: The Breaking

Hannah Mercer stood at the kitchen window, watching the rain carve thin, trembling lines down the glass. The gray Seattle sky pressed low over the neighborhood, and for a moment she felt as if the entire world were sinking with her. She had not cried in days—not because the pain had faded, but because she seemed to have run out of tears altogether.

Behind her, Landon’s voice cut through the quiet like a blade. “You are eating again.” His tone held the same mixture of disappointment and disdain she had grown used to over the past year. Hannah instinctively placed a hand over her bowl of oatmeal, though she had barely touched it. It was simple food, light and plain, but even that felt like too much under his stare.

“It is breakfast,” she answered softly.

“Breakfast?” Landon stepped into the room, his eyes cold as they swept over her figure. “Do you ever look in the mirror? You have let yourself go. I cannot pretend to be attracted to you anymore.”

The words hit exactly where he intended. Hannah said nothing. Once, long ago, she would have defended herself, argued back, asked him why he had begun treating her like a burden instead of a partner. But that fire had dimmed over the years, smothered by exhaustion, motherhood, work, and the silent distance growing between them.

When Landon’s phone buzzed on the counter, Hannah glanced down without thinking. A message appeared on the screen, bright and unmistakable.

Sierra, dinner at my place tonight. I miss you.

Her chest tightened, her breath stalled. Hannah unlocked the phone automatically, knowing the password he never bothered to change. The screen filled with months of messages, affectionate words, late-night plans, and photos of Sierra Brooks—young and bright, the kind of woman Hannah no longer saw in the mirror.

Hannah set the phone down with shaking hands. There was no outburst, no scream, only a hollow stillness, a quiet collapse inside her. She turned back to the window and watched the rainfall, realizing her marriage had already ended long before this moment.

Chapter Two: The Collapse

That evening, the apartment felt heavier than usual, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath. Hannah sat on the edge of the bed, her hands still trembling from what she had seen on Landon’s phone. She waited for the sound of the front door unlocking—the familiar click that once brought comfort, but now carried nothing but dread.

Landon walked in close to midnight. The faint scent of unfamiliar perfume drifted into the room before he even spoke. When he finally turned on the hallway light, Hannah saw the truth written on his face. He was not tired. He was caught.

“You are awake,” he said, surprised.

“I could not sleep,” she replied quietly.

Landon hesitated for a moment, then exhaled sharply as if annoyed. “Listen, Hannah, we need to talk.”

Those four words were enough to send a chill through her. He sat on the far side of the bed, leaving a wide, unmistakable distance between them.

“I am leaving,” he said bluntly. “I cannot keep living like this. Sierra is pregnant. I want to be with her.”

The world seemed to tilt. Hannah stared at him, unable to process the words. Pregnant with his child. A child he did not even try to plan with her.

“You are leaving your family?” she asked, her voice barely steady.

“People change, Hannah. Feelings change. And honestly, you stopped being the woman I married. You let yourself go. You do not even try anymore.”

The cruelty was delivered so casually, she could hardly breathe. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but nothing came out. Not a word. It felt as though every part of her had been stripped away.

“I will pack my things this week,” Landon continued, already standing up. “I will keep paying for Evan. Of course, I am not heartless.”

He said it as if offering charity.

When he left the room, Hannah remained frozen, staring at the empty space he had occupied. Her heart felt bruised, as if someone had reached in and crushed it slowly. She curled her knees to her chest and stayed that way until the first light of dawn crept through the blinds.

She did not scream. She did not beg. She simply broke silently, completely in the dark. It was the kind of breaking that changes a person forever.

Chapter Three: The Ghost Days

The next three days, Hannah drifted through her apartment like a ghost. She moved because her body remembered how to move, not because she had the strength or desire to. Morning blended into afternoon, afternoon into night. She barely touched food. She barely slept. The silence felt louder than any argument they had ever had.

On the fourth morning, she forced herself out to buy groceries. Her fridge held nothing except a carton of milk past its date. She slipped into an oversized sweater, pulled her hair back without looking in the mirror, and walked to the store down the street. The Seattle air was damp, cool, and unforgiving.

At the entrance, she ran into Judith Price, her mother-in-law. The woman eyed her from head to toe with thinly veiled disgust.

“Hannah, you look unwell.”

Hannah offered a polite nod, hoping to escape quickly, but Judith stepped closer.

“Landon told me everything,” she said sharply. “I am taking Evan for the summer. He should not be around you in your condition.”

“My condition?” Hannah’s voice cracked, though she tried to hold it steady.

“You have let yourself go. You have depression. The boy does not need to see this. I will arrange everything.”

Hannah blinked, stunned. Judith carried on as if discussing grocery items.

“You are the reason this marriage failed. You stopped trying. Sierra is young, responsible, put together. Landon deserves stability.”

The words struck painfully. Each one a slap. Before Hannah could respond, Judith turned away.

“Fix yourself, Hannah. That is your only option.”

When she was gone, Hannah stood frozen in the parking lot, her hands shaking so hard she nearly dropped her keys. She made it home somehow, but once inside, she slumped against the door, choking on sobs she could no longer contain.

She cried until her shirt was soaked. Then, out of habit, she reached for food to quiet the hurt. A box of pastries—soft and sweet—she ate one, then another, then another. The temporary comfort only deepened her shame.

Finally, she walked to the bathroom. She faced the mirror. Her reflection startled her.

Puffy eyes, unkempt hair. A woman who looked older than thirty-eight. A woman who had given everything and lost herself along the way.

“Who am I?” she whispered.

But no answer came. Just the quiet realization that she had reached the lowest point of her life.

Chapter Four: The List

Hannah stood in front of the mirror for a long, silent minute. Something inside her shifted—not loudly, not dramatically, but enough to make her straighten her shoulders just a little. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and walked to the kitchen. Her breathing was uneven, but her steps felt different, steadier.

She grabbed a notebook from the drawer, the same notebook she once used for grocery lists and Evan’s school reminders. Now she opened it to a blank page and wrote slowly, deliberately, as if carving the words into stone.

What to do next?

She stared at the last point for a long moment. Find myself again. It felt impossible. It felt too big. But writing it down made it real. It made her accountable to herself.

The next morning, she called a family attorney named Mark Weston. His calm voice steadied her.

“Come in tomorrow, Hannah. We will go through everything together.”

After the call, she logged into her bank account. Her breath caught seeing the balance lower than expected. Landon had withdrawn a large portion, leaving only what remained in her personal savings—the money she had contributed from years of work. She transferred every remaining dollar into her own account. This time, she would protect her stability, her future.

She spent the afternoon cleaning the apartment, removing Landon’s shirts from the closet, stacking his unopened mail, gathering the items he had left scattered around as if he still lived there. It felt like sweeping out the remnants of a storm.

Then, with a deep inhale, she opened her laptop and signed up for a trial class at a fitness studio a few blocks away. She had not stepped into a gym in years. The idea of being surrounded by toned, confident women terrified her, but she booked the class anyway.

Chapter Five: The First Steps

That evening, she joined her first divorce support group online. Faces appeared on her screen. Women of different ages, expressions tired but warm. A moderator welcomed her with a gentle nod.

“Share when you are ready,” she said.

Hannah’s voice trembled at first, but she told the truth. The betrayal, the cruelty, the way she had disappeared inside her own life. By the time she finished, the other women were nodding, some with tears in their eyes.

One of them said softly, “You are not alone. We have all been there.”

Those simple words settled into Hannah’s chest like a seed planted in dry soil. For the first time since Landon walked out, she felt something flicker inside her. Not hope, not yet, but fight. A faint spark of it.

.
.
.
Play video: