Updated Nov 23, 2025 • ~9 min read
Wednesday morning, everything fell apart.
I woke to my phone exploding with notifications. Texts, calls, emails—all flooding in.
Jeremy was already up, on his phone in the kitchen, expression grim.
“What happened?”
He showed me his screen.
PATTERSON TECHNOLOGIES STOCK DROPS 40% AS CEO PERSONAL DRAMA ESCALATES
Shareholders Demand Emergency Meeting Over Leadership Crisis
Sources: Jeremy Patterson’s Wife at Center of Company Turmoil
And worse, much worse:
EXCLUSIVE: Patterson’s Marriage to Roselyn Greenwood Never Legally Dissolved—Questions About Financial Impropriety
“What the hell?” I grabbed his phone, reading. “They’re saying our marriage was kept secret for tax purposes? That you’ve been committing fraud?”
“It’s bullshit. Complete fabrication.” But his face was pale. “Someone leaked our confidential court documents. The therapy sessions, the divorce filing that never processed, all of it.”
“Who would do that?”
“My money’s on Victoria. She’s the only one with motive and means.”
My phone rang. Eric.
“Don’t come in today,” he said without preamble. “The office is being swarmed by press. Henderson pulled their contract. Other clients are asking questions. Rose, I’m sorry, but I have to put you on administrative leave pending investigation.”
“Investigation into what? I didn’t do anything!”
“Into whether your relationship with Jeremy represents conflict of interest with our clients. It’s procedure. I’m sorry.”
He hung up.
I stared at my phone. “I just got put on leave.”
Jeremy’s jaw clenched. “This is character assassination. Planned, coordinated attack.”
“On both of us.”
“No. On me through you. Hurting you to force me to back down.” He was already dialing. “I’m calling my lawyer. We’re suing for defamation—”
“Jeremy, that’ll just make it worse! More headlines, more drama—”
“So what do you want me to do? Let them destroy you?”
“I want you to think! To use strategy instead of emotion!”
“Strategy? Rose, they went after you! My wife! There’s no strategy that makes that okay!”
We stared at each other, tension crackling.
“Maybe we should issue a statement,” I said. “Clarify the marriage situation, explain—”
“Explain what? That we’re technically married but separated? That we’re dating our own spouse? That sounds insane!”
“Because it is insane! We are insane!” I grabbed my coat. “I need air.”
“Rose—”
“Don’t. I just need space. To think.”
I left him standing in our kitchen and walked. No destination, just walking.
By noon, I ended up at Julie’s office.
She took one look at me and ushered me inside. “I saw the articles. All of them.”
“Eric put me on leave. Henderson pulled out. Jeremy’s stock tanked. This is a disaster.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Jeremy wants to fight. Sue everyone, issue statements, go to war.” I sank into her couch. “But maybe fighting makes it worse. Maybe I should just… walk away. Give the press what they want—us separate, drama over, everyone moves on.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I want my life back! My job, my privacy, my sanity!” Tears started. “I love him. I think. But at what cost? My career’s imploding. My reputation’s destroyed. And for what? A marriage that already failed once?”
“Do you actually believe that? That you’re going to fail again?”
I thought about it. About Jeremy making breakfast and walking away from millions and holding me through panic attacks.
“I don’t know. When it’s just us, it feels perfect. But the second the world intrudes, everything explodes.”
“Then maybe the problem isn’t you two. Maybe it’s everyone else.”
“That’s easy to say. Harder to live.”
My phone buzzed. Jeremy.
Where are you? Are you safe?
I’m at Julie’s. I’m fine.
Can we talk? Please?
I need more time
How much time?
I don’t know
I turned off my phone.
“What if I leave?” I asked Julie. “Just go. Stay with my mom for a few weeks. Let things calm down.”
“Running worked so well last time.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it? Rose, you left Jeremy five years ago instead of fighting. Now you’re considering doing it again. That’s a pattern.”
“So I should stay? Keep fighting this losing battle?”
“I think you should decide what you actually want. Not what’s easiest or safest or makes the press happy. What do you want?”
I didn’t have an answer.
That evening, I returned to the apartment. Jeremy was waiting, looking haggard.
“You turned off your phone. For four hours.”
“I needed space.”
“I was terrified. Thought you’d left for good.” He stood. “Are you? Leaving?”
“I don’t know.”
“Rose—”
“Don’t. I don’t have answers right now. I just have questions and fear and doubt about whether this is even worth it.”
His face fell. “Worth it. You’re questioning if we’re worth it.”
“Aren’t you? Your company’s imploding, your reputation’s shot, all because you chose me over a business deal!”
“And I’d do it again!”
“Why? Why when it’s costing you everything?”
“Because you are everything!” He crossed the room. “The company, the money, the reputation—that’s all replaceable. You’re not. We’re not.”
“You can’t know that!”
“I can. Because I’ve lived without you. Five years of success and money and emptiness. I don’t want that life. I want this one. With you. Even if it’s hard.”
“Hard doesn’t begin to cover this!”
“Then what word would you use? Impossible? Insane? Doomed?” He grabbed my hands. “Pick whatever word you want. I’m still not walking away.”
“What if I am?”
The question hung between us.
“Are you?” His voice broke. “Walking away?”
I wanted to say no. To be certain. To know this would work out.
But I couldn’t.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I’m so tired, Jeremy. Of fighting, of justifying, of defending us against the world. And I don’t know if love is enough to make this sustainable.”
“Love is all we have. It has to be enough.”
“Does it though? Because we loved each other before and it wasn’t enough then. What’s different now besides better PR?”
“Everything’s different! I’m different, you’re different, we’re different together!”
“Are we? Or are we just repeating the same pattern with better window dressing?” I pulled my hands away. “You’re still choosing me over business. Which sounds romantic until it bankrupts you and you resent me for it.”
“I won’t resent you—”
“You can’t promise that! No one can promise how they’ll feel when everything falls apart!”
We stared at each other, five years of hurt and hope colliding.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked. “Tell me. Do you want me to walk away from the board fight? Reinstate the Donovan deal? What would make you feel safe?”
“I don’t know! That’s the problem! No matter what choice we make, someone loses!”
“Then let’s lose together.” He moved closer. “Rose, I can handle losing the company. Losing money. Losing reputation. What I can’t handle is losing you. Again. Please don’t make me.”
“You’re putting this on me. Like it’s my choice whether we survive.”
“It is your choice! You’re the one questioning if we’re worth it! You’re the one with one foot out the door!” His voice rose. “I’m all in. Have been from the moment I showed up with those unsigned papers. But you—you’re still protecting yourself. Still looking for exits. Still not fully trusting this!”
“Because you broke that trust! Five years ago, you broke it, and I’m trying to rebuild it, but every crisis makes me remember why I left!”
“Then maybe you should have stayed left!”
The words hit like a slap.
Silence.
Jeremy’s face crumpled. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Didn’t you?” Tears streamed down my face. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should have stayed gone. Married Charlie. Built a safe life. Instead of letting you back in to destroy me again.”
“Rose—”
“I can’t do this. Not tonight.” I grabbed my phone, my bag. “I’m going to my mom’s. For a few days. To think.”
“Don’t. Please. We can work through this—”
“We’ve been working through this for weeks! And it keeps getting worse!” I headed for the door. “I just need space. Time. Away from the chaos.”
“You’re running again.”
I stopped. “I’m surviving. There’s a difference.”
“Is there? Because it looks the same from here.”
I left without another word.
In my car, I fell apart. Sobbing so hard I could barely drive.
This was supposed to be different. We were supposed to be different.
But maybe Julie was right. Maybe some couples are toxic together. Maybe love wasn’t enough.
My phone rang. Jeremy.
I didn’t answer.
Voicemail notification.
“Rose, I’m sorry. For saying you should have stayed left. For putting pressure on you. For all of it.” His voice was wrecked. “Take your time. Your space. Whatever you need. But please know—I love you. I’ve always loved you. And I’ll be here when you’re ready. If you’re ready. I’m not giving up on us, even if you are.”
The message ended.
I drove to my mom’s through tears and rain, wondering if this was the end.
If I’d tried to rewrite our story only to get the same devastating ending.
At my childhood home, my mom took one look at me and pulled me into her arms.
“Oh honey. What happened?”
I told her everything. Jeremy, the board, the press, the fight.
“Do you love him?” she asked.
“Yes. But maybe that’s not enough.”
“Love is never enough. You also need timing, compatibility, willingness to fight. But Rose—” She cupped my face. “Your father and I divorced because we stopped fighting for each other. We gave up. If you still have fight left, use it. But if you’re truly done, that’s okay too. Just make sure you’re quitting for the right reasons.”
“What are the right reasons?”
“Not fear. Not exhaustion. Not what other people think.” She smiled sadly. “Quit because it’s actually wrong, not because it’s hard. Everything worth having is hard.”
I fell asleep in my childhood bedroom, phone on silent, heart broken, no clearer on what to do.
In the morning, I woke to 43 missed calls.
All from Jeremy.
And one text, sent at 3 a.m.:
The shareholder vote moved up. Emergency session tomorrow. I might lose everything. But Rose, the only thing I’m terrified of losing is you. Come back. Please. Let me prove we can survive this. Together.
I stared at the message.
Tomorrow. He could lose his company tomorrow.
And he was worried about losing me.
I had a choice. Show up and stand beside him. Or stay away and let him face it alone.
The choice that would define us.
And I still didn’t know what to do.
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