Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
I did tell her where Helen was staying since they didn’t know, and Dad wanted to serve her with divorce papers. He’s under the impression that she stole his money and destroyed his house out of anger, and I’m not about to tell him any different. That was my plan all along.
Now, his friends are telling him about her affairs because their wives read about them on the community forum, which, along with the information I just sent him, should be enough to help him keep his precious money that she was after all along. If the judge even thinks of giving her a penny, I’ll take it all. She will not profit from my mother’s trauma.
CORBIN
“I fucked up, I really fucked up. She’s not answering.”
“Give her some time; she’s just hurt.”
“I know, and I know she has a right to be, but it still hurts. I thought we were doing the right thing, shielding her from things, but it seems like she can’t get past the affair.”
I had most of my life back, but my little girl was the last holdout, and the way things were looking, she wasn’t planning on forgiving me anytime soon. It hurts like hell, even more than when she was a kid, and I had to watch her be unhappy when I was playing house with someone else.
Everyone seems to think that after an affair, life becomes rosy, but nothing can be further from the truth. I regretted my mistake immediately, and I never once thought for a second that the repercussions would be this long-lasting.
I want the chance to talk to my kid and explain these things to her, but she doesn’t want to hear them. That message she sent had gutted me, and I’d cried while her mother held me and tried to offer comfort, but I think we both know that until the day Alyssa forgives me, I’m going to carry this burden.
My phone pinged with a message, and my heart jumped as I hoped it was her. It was, but it was just more information about Helen, and it looked like she knew where she was. That was good because I needed a place to have the divorce papers served. I was all set to take out a notice in the paper, which is something my lawyer assured me would be acceptable in our state if the other spouse couldn’t be found to serve.
There was a lot that came to light in the last week or so since we’ve been back, things that I had long suspected but never had the evidence to prove. I guess because I refused to sleep with her, she had to get it from somewhere.
She’d been very careful over the years because she knew that infidelity meant she got nothing in the divorce. As much as I appreciate Alyssa sending me the proof, I would have much rather she had been willing to talk to me.
I didn’t even care about the money at this point; I just wanted my family back. I was only halfway there because my little girl was having one of her snits. If it was that simple, I would wait her out, but I know her; she’s as stubborn as her mother, and those two can hold a grudge.
“Alyssa sent information about Helen’s affairs.” I showed her mother the phone.
“You don’t seem too pleased.”
“It’s not that. I just wish she was contacting me to tell me she forgives me or at least that she was ready to talk.”
The kid knows how to go for the jugular that’s for sure. She laid me bare, and had I not come to the same conclusion as she had, I would’ve been curled up in a ball from the pain of her words and accusations.
I couldn’t even find fault with her logic because everything she said was right. I had blinders on, I guess. During those times, I was forced to put Mitzie before her; I always knew that one day, I would make it right.
That had always been my frame of thought. I overlooked the fact that she was living that hell. She didn’t know that I was playing a waiting game, waiting for the right time to kick Helen and her daughter out of my life and come back to my family.
She had no idea that I hated every second I was married to that woman. All she sees is the fact that I had put those two before her, and I don’t know if I will ever be able to get her to forgive me or even want to be in the same room as me.
My heart hurts each time I think about the fact that she was married now; that meant future children, children I may never get the chance to have a relationship with. I’d already missed so much because of my own stupidity, and I didn’t want to lose anything else.