Anika, when you say that your ex H's "trick" did not work, it might be not because the trick was not good, but because you were done with the H. The trick revealed and confirmed that you were done with the H. So it worked as a good Litmus test, still - it informed you and confirmed to you that you were on your way out, with no regrets. So it was, essentially, a nice try - he did not get you back, but he tried. And, the whole thing probably did not take much time. Just compare it with endless hours of talking, possibly in the presence of a third party counselor, where the result would have been the same - divorce - but the cost would have been even higher.