“Every late-night call. Every dinner you didn’t tell me about. Every time you said I was jealous. Every time you left me taking care of Noah while you went to see Vanessa.”
“I know.”
“Do you understand how many choices it took to get here?”
He nodded.
I sat down.
“For seven years, I’ve loved your son. I’ve made sure he had clean clothes, permission slips, meals, rides to practice. I did that because I wanted to be part of his life.”
Ethan looked up.
“I know how much you’ve done for us.”
“Then why did you make me feel like an outsider whenever Vanessa wanted something?”
His eyes filled again.
“I thought she needed me.”
“And I didn’t?”
He didn’t answer.
I thought about the dinner table.
The place cards.
The chair I’d moved without arguing because I was tired of being accused of competing with a woman I had never tried to replace.
“Ethan, I wasn’t competing with Vanessa. I was trying to remain your wife.”
He covered his face.
I let him sit there.
Then I told him what I needed.
He would remain in the house that night because Noah was upstairs and I didn’t want him waking to a sudden disappearance.
But the following morning, Ethan needed to make arrangements for us to live separately while we decided what to do about the marriage.
We would also need to review the responsibilities I’d been carrying for Noah.
I wasn’t going to abandon a child who trusted me.
But I wouldn’t continue being the default caregiver while Ethan treated my time and loyalty as things he could take for granted.
He nodded.
“I’ll do whatever you need.”
I looked at him.
“Start by telling the truth without waiting for someone else to bring proof.”
He wiped his eyes.
