Beneath Silver Clouds Wander Hearts Searching For Forgotten Truths by Asher Cole Wynn
1. A Life That Was Never Hers
In a quiet community where gossip traveled faster than the wind, the residents whispered endlessly about my husband, Kashton Wilkerson. His reputation was infamous—every night, he brought home a new woman, each one more glamorous than the last. I, on the other hand, was reduced to a silent caretaker, serving drinks, preparing rooms, and tidying up after these visitors who strutted through my home as if they owned it.
When I first entered the Wilkerson household as Kashton’s bride, I was welcomed not with warmth, but with a command. My mother-in-law, Mariana Wilkerson, fixed me with a stern stare and said, “Never do anything that disrupts Kashton’s peace.” It was a rule, an order, and a warning—one that shaped how I lived every day afterward.
From then on, my existence was defined by silence. I learned to swallow my pride, hide my hurt, and shrink myself into someone who wouldn’t cause trouble. But every night, when Kashton returned with yet another woman on his arm, resentment simmered inside me, burning hotter with each passing day.
2. Cracks in the Foundation
One evening, when the front door swung open to reveal Kashton and yet another stranger, something inside me twisted sharply. My mother-in-law noticed instantly.
“You are so spineless,” she scoffed, her tone thick with contempt.
My own eight-year-old son, Winston, echoed her disdain. “Mom, you’re pathetic,” he added, his voice mocking, as if humiliating me were as natural to him as breathing.
Those words didn’t just sting—they shattered something deep inside me.
For years, I had endured the insults, the disrespect, the loneliness. But hearing my son—my own flesh and blood—speak to me that way was a wound I could no longer ignore. My resolve hardened.
I marched straight up to Kashton, heart pounding, and said the words I’d never dared to speak aloud:
“I want a divorce.”
3. A Marriage Built on Control
Kashton barely lifted his eyes from his phone, but I saw the slight tightening of his shoulders. The ash at the tip of his cigarette grew long—one of the rare signs that something bothered him.
“What’s this about?” he asked, bored, as if I were interrupting him over something trivial.
“I want a divorce,” I repeated.
He glanced at his watch. “Seventeen minutes until Winston gets out of school.”
Just like that, he tried to use Winston as leverage, a tactic I’d grown all too familiar with. What he failed to realize was that I had already lost Winston long before this moment.
The previous night’s dinner played vividly in my mind—a memory that felt like a fresh bruise.
As always, I had removed onions from my meal, just like I did for Winston. But this time, instead of the shy gratitude he used to show as a toddler, he looked at me with scorn.
“Mom, I think you’re pathetic,” he said bluntly.
The entire table fell silent, and the sound of my fork dropping echoed loudly. I was too stunned to speak.
But Winston went on, emboldened. “No wonder everyone calls you a doormat. Even Grandma looks down on you. And you’re definitely not as interesting as Dad’s women.”
Laughter erupted—from cousins, aunts, uncles, even grandparents. Their amusement at my humiliation swirled around me like a cruel storm.
Tears streamed down my face, but Winston only frowned at my grief.
“Stop crying,” he snapped. “You act like a baby. You’re embarrassing me.”
It was the moment I realized my son no longer saw me as his mother—only as someone beneath him.
4. A House with No Space for a Wife
Just when the tension peaked, the front door opened and Kashton walked in with his next “guest.” This time it was Coraline Salkield, a famous actress, radiantly beautiful and effortlessly graceful.
My mother-in-law hurried to smooth things over.
“Come now, Winnie’s just a child,” she said. “You’re his mother. You shouldn’t be arguing with him.”
Other relatives chimed in:
“Winston is just repeating what he hears.”
“You can’t blame him for repeating the truth.”
“Everyone in Boston knows about your reputation anyway.”
Their words fell on me like blows, each one reinforcing the idea that I was worthless in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Winston sprang toward Coraline with unrestrained joy. His face lit up with excitement—something I hadn’t seen directed at me in years. Coraline laughed and handed him a bright paper kite she’d brought. Their bond was obvious, effortless, and painfully real.
Kashton caught my eye for a fleeting second before turning away, pretending not to notice my devastation. He was accustomed to my humiliation. Perhaps he even preferred it that way.
For the first time, the shame didn’t come from another woman.
It came from the child I had carried for ten months, the child I had raised alone while Kashton entertained the city’s finest.
It came from the boy who had once clung to my hand but now saw me as nothing but an embarrassment.
5. The Moment Everything Changes
Back in the present, Kashton’s calm façade barely cracked at my request for divorce, but underneath his composure, I sensed the faint unease he tried to hide.
My mother-in-law hovered nearby, ready to pounce with judgment. Winston, too, was lingering in the background, a miniature reflection of Kashton’s arrogance.
I had reached a breaking point.
My world had shrunk so much that even my son felt empowered to belittle me. For years, I had catered to a man who never saw me, a mother-in-law who treated me like a servant, and a household that laughed at my pain.
Now, standing in front of Kashton, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time—clarity.
The question lingered in my mind like a quiet whisper:
Are you sure you want this divorce?
But this time, the whisper didn’t come from doubt.
It came from the part of me that had finally awakened—the part that refused to endure another day of humiliation.
I realized the truth with painful certainty:
Yes. I wanted this divorce more than anything.
I wanted out of the Wilkerson House of Shadows. Out of the toxic cycle of disrespect. Out of a marriage where I was a wife in name only and a maid in practice.
Kashton might have been powerful. He might have controlled everyone around him.
But he no longer controlled me.
6. Understanding the Weight of Her Choice
Daring to speak those four words—I want a divorce—was the first moment in years where I felt control return to me. For so long, I had been shaped by everyone’s expectations: Kashton’s indifference, Mariana’s cruelty, and Winston’s growing disdain.
This decision held the weight of every insult, every night I had swallowed my sorrow, every moment I had sat alone while laughter echoed from rooms I wasn’t welcome in.
Divorcing Kashton wasn’t just about escaping a loveless marriage.
It was about reclaiming my dignity. My voice. Myself.
Even if it meant walking away from my son—a thought that tore at my soul. But Winston had pushed me away long before I ever considered leaving.
For the first time, I understood that staying with the Wilkersons was slowly killing me.
Leaving might break me in a different way, but at least it would be on my own terms.
