Chapter 3 - His Ex-Wife Came to My Door
Madison stepped in front of me.
“You don’t have to open that door.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m done hiding.”
I opened it.
Zachary looked furious.
Rebecca looked uncomfortable.
“Where’s Chloe?” he demanded.
“Inside.”
“I’m taking her home.”
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
“You don’t get to say no.”
“Actually, I do.”
Rebecca touched his arm.
“Zach, maybe lower your voice.”
I almost laughed.
“Why is she here?”
Zachary answered as though it were obvious.
“Because this involves Tristan.”
“No. Our divorce involves us.”
“Tristan is devastated.”
Behind him, Rebecca folded her arms.
“He thinks you hate him.”
“I don’t hate Tristan.”
“You clearly resent him,” Zachary said.
I stared at him.
“I sat beside his hospital bed all night when he was eight.”
“That was years ago.”
“I attended every school conference when Rebecca couldn’t.”
Rebecca’s face changed.
“I packed his lunches. I drove him to soccer. I stayed awake when he had nightmares.”
“You chose to do those things,” Zachary replied.
“Yes.”
“And now you want credit?”
That sentence finally explained our marriage.
Anything I gave was expected.
Anything I needed was selfish.
“No,” I said. “I don’t want credit. I want you to understand why I’m done.”
Rebecca shifted awkwardly.
“Charlotte, maybe everybody needs a few days.”
“You were in my family group last night while they laughed about replacing me with you.”
Her cheeks reddened.
“I didn’t laugh.”
“You didn’t stop it.”
“I didn’t know what to say.”
“You could have said, ‘Tristan, your father is married.’”
Zachary stepped closer.
“Don’t blame Rebecca.”
“I’m not.”
“Then stop attacking her.”
Madison appeared behind me.
“Back away from my sister.”
Zachary stared at her.
“This is none of your business.”
“It became my business when Charlotte and Chloe needed somewhere to sleep.”
His jaw tightened.
“Charlotte has a home.”
“No,” I said quietly. “You have a home. I had a position in it.”
Before he could respond, Chloe appeared behind Madison.
“Mom?”
Zachary’s expression immediately changed.
“Chloe.”
She stopped.
He opened his arms.
“Come here.”
She didn’t move.
“Sweetheart?”
Chloe gripped Madison’s dress.
Then she noticed Rebecca.
“Is she Tristan’s mom?”
Rebecca nodded gently.
“Yes.”
Chloe looked at her father.
“Is she your wife now?”
“No,” Zachary said quickly.
“But Tristan said she would be when Mom leaves.”
Rebecca’s face drained.
Zachary looked furious.
“Tristan says stupid things.”
“Don’t call him stupid,” Chloe whispered.
That stopped him.
Even after everything, Chloe defended her brother.
I crouched beside her.
“You want to go back inside?”
She nodded.
Zachary stepped forward.
“I want five minutes with my daughter.”
Chloe clung to me.
“Mommy, come too.”
Zachary saw it.
For one second, something like pain crossed his face.
But instead of asking himself why his daughter was afraid to be alone with him, he blamed me.
“What have you been telling her?”
“Nothing.”
“She was never like this.”
“She was. You just weren’t listening.”
Rebecca suddenly spoke.
“She’s right.”
Zachary turned.
“What?”
Rebecca looked at Chloe, then at him.
“Tristan has told me things.”
“What things?”
“That you punish Charlotte whenever he complains about her.”
“I don’t punish her.”
“You remove her from a family chat like she’s a teenager.”
“It’s a stupid chat.”
“Then why do you use access to it as leverage?”
Zachary’s face darkened.
“Whose side are you on?”
Rebecca gave a humorless laugh.
“That sentence is your problem.”
He stared at her.
“You think everything has sides. Tristan or Charlotte. Me or Charlotte. Your parents or Charlotte.”
She stepped away from him.
“I came because you told me Charlotte was taking her anger out on Tristan.”
“I am not,” I said.
Rebecca nodded.
“I believe you.”
Zachary looked between us.
“This is unbelievable.”
“No,” Rebecca replied. “What’s unbelievable is that Tristan thinks if Charlotte disappears, I’ll come back.”
She looked directly at him.
“Did you ever tell him that?”
“Of course not.”
“Did you ever tell him it wouldn’t happen?”
Silence.
Rebecca’s expression hardened.
“Exactly.”
She walked toward her car.
Zachary called after her.
“Rebecca!”
She turned.
“I divorced you for a reason, Zachary.”
Then she left.
Madison slowly closed the door.
Outside, Zachary stood alone.
For the first time, nobody was choosing his side automatically.
May you like
And he had no idea it was about to get worse.
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