Chapter 12 - Grant Takes Responsibility Without Asking Me Back
Grant requested another conversation.
Nathan knew.
He trusted me enough not to turn it into a test.
We met at Angela’s office because I wanted clean boundaries.
Grant brought no excuses.
“I remember some of those conversations differently,” he began.
Angela immediately said:
“The record is the record.”
Grant nodded.
“I know.”
Then he looked at me.
“Paige manipulated things.”
“Yes.”
“But I let her.”
I waited.
“I liked how she talked about you.”
That sentence surprised me.
“What does that mean?”
“She made your strengths sound like flaws.”
My independence became coldness.
My career became ambition at his expense.
My careful budgeting became control.
My tiredness after Molly was born became rejection.
Paige did not invent every insecurity Grant had.
She translated them into permission.
Grant continued:
“I wanted someone telling me I wasn’t the problem.”
“And Paige wanted someone telling her she was better than me.”
He closed his eyes.
“Probably.”
There was something pathetic about the affair now.
Not romantic.
Not irresistible.
Two insecure people feeding each other stories that made betrayal easier.
“I’m sorry,” Grant said.
I nodded.
“I know.”
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
He almost smiled.
Then became serious.
“I owe Molly better than what happened at the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve started seeing someone.”
I blinked.
“A therapist.”
That actually made me laugh.
Grant smiled weakly.
“I deserved that.”
“No. It just wasn’t where I thought that sentence was going.”
For a moment we sounded like people who had once been married.
Then it passed.
Before leaving, Grant said:
“Paige contacted me.”
My body tightened.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did she want?”
“She asked me to say the messages were taken out of context.”
Of course.
“What did you say?”
“No.”
I looked at him.
Grant continued.
“She said if I didn’t help, you’d make her lose the whole family.”
“And?”
“I told her she already made those choices.”
For the first time in three years, Grant refused to help Paige manage the consequences.
That mattered.
Not to our marriage.
May you like
That was over.
But to the truth.
