Chapter 3 - THE FIRST THING THEIR MARRIAGE LOST
Ethan took Sophia to his mother’s house the next morning.
Not permanently.
Not dramatically.
He simply said:
“She needs somewhere calm for a few days.”
Laura did not fight him.
Her attorney later told her she had done the right thing.
That did not make it feel better.
Sophia cried when Laura packed her stuffed rabbit.
“Mommy coming?”
Laura crouched.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Why not now?”
Laura did not know how to explain that Mommy had allowed someone dangerous into their home because Mommy was trying to find out whether Daddy was lying.
So she said:
“Grown-ups made a mistake.”
Sophia hugged the rabbit.
“Rachel mean.”
“Yes.”
Laura swallowed.
“She was.”
Sophia looked at her.
“Why you give her our key?”
The question was too clear for three years old.
Laura had no safe answer.
Ethan stepped in.
“That’s enough, sweetheart.”
He did not say it harshly.
He was protecting Laura from a question she deserved.
That somehow hurt worse.
After they left, Laura entered Ethan’s office.
He had already opened the locked cabinet.
The burgundy folder was gone.
For one terrible second, Laura assumed Rachel had taken it.
Then Ethan called.
“I have the file.”
“Why?”
“Because until we understand what Rachel wanted, I’m not leaving it in the house.”
“What’s inside?”
“Records.”
“Of what?”
“Her contacting me.”
Laura leaned against the desk.
“You said she hadn’t contacted you.”
“I said I hadn’t been in contact with her.”
“That is not the same sentence.”
“No.”
Laura closed her eyes.
Another omission.
Another technically defensible phrase.
Another reason she had believed Rachel.
Ethan continued.
“When she emailed, I didn't respond. When she called from new numbers, I blocked them. My attorney sent notices.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because every time her name entered our house, we lost six months.”
“You don't get to decide what I can handle.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
Then Ethan said:
“Laura, I’m furious with you. But I know exactly why you didn't trust me.”
That answer broke something open.
The affair was over.
May you like
Its consequences were not.
And now Sophia had been pulled into a wound her parents had spent three years pretending was healed.
