Sara, I don't really want to argue with you, but... just consider this. Lois needs Clark. Her depression has so much to do with the fact that Clark has put an expiration date on their time together.
Lois isn't fantasizing about other men or about finding her own 'true love'. It may have been in this latest chapter that Lois was thinking to herself that the only man she ever wanted to be with was Clark.
Clark should know that she loves him. She told him so, and Clark should realize that it cost her a lot to tell him. When Sam asked Clark if Lois loved him, Clark was cowardly enough not to give Sam a straight answer. He justified his own behaviour by telling himself that he didn't know if Lois still loved him, since she hadn't repeated her declaration of love for him.
Lois is rich, because Sam is rich. Imagine, however, that Lois had been dependent on Clark for a place to live. And imagine that Clark had told her that he didn't want her to demean herself by staying with him just to have somewhere to live. He knew that Lois was a proud woman, and she wouldn't want to cling to him just because he provided her with a place to stay. To rescue her from the humiliation of hanging on to him just to get a place of residence, he would now sever their relationship and send her away. Maybe she would end up homeless, on the streets, but sure it was better to be homeless and proud than to stay with Clark just because he gave her a home, just because he felt sorry for her?
My point is that you cut Clark too much slack if you say that he is going to divorce Lois just because he wants her to keep her pride. She loves him and she needs him, and he should never say to himself that he is doing her a favour by leaving her.
Ann
EDIT: Of course... you can say that if a woman needs a man, she doesn't love him, because needing and loving are two different things. Depends on how you define love, I guess... but it would be a good thing if Lois outgrew her need of Clark. Oh well...
