Friends close to Britney Spears and Kevin Federline weren’t surprised that Spears filed a petition for divorce on Tuesday in L.A. County Court citing "irreconcilable differences." Source tell Us Weekly that the couple had a final blowout last week that pushed their marriage to the breaking point.

At a bash for Federline's album release at club Xenii in L.A. on October 31, the couple, say sources, had an explosive argument. While Federline worked the crowd (onstage earlier in the night he yelled, "Ladies, I love you!"), Spears was hidden away in an upstairs dressing room.

Before Halloween night was officially over, the pop star, dressed in a black minidress and barefoot, made a dramatic exit. "She ran down the stairs crying and stormed out," a witness says. "Her eyes were swollen and her eyeliner was smudged. She looked like a complete mess." Federline didn't run after his wife.

Matters remained unresolved by the time the couple headed east (Spears even postponed her NYC arrival by one day), and the pop star was spotted welling up in public again on November 2 while having dinner with a male friend at Library, her hotel's restaurant. "She cried on and off the whole meal," an onlooker tells Us.

What else happened last week that caused Spears to start the divorce proceedings? How did the couple end up in separate hotels? Why didn't Britney show up to Kevin's concert in NYC on November 4? What was the argument that kept resurfacing? For more details on why the couple is splitting, pick up the current issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands Wednesday.



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