My voice rises.
“You knew. and you went anyway.”
“And you smiled at her while I was standing 10 feet away holding flowers for our daughter.”
Tears are streaming down my face now, but I don’t care. Let them fall. Let everyone in this restaurant see what he’s done.
“I have screenshots,” I continue. “Every message, every I miss you and can’t wait to see you.”
“And you’re incredible.”
“I have pictures of you leaving her apartment.”
“I have credit card receipts from hotels.”
“I have everything.”
Dererick’s face goes from pale to gray.
“And you?” I turned to Vanessa.
“Did you know he was planning to leave me?”
“Because that’s what he told me last month that he needed space. that marriage was hard, that maybe we should try counseling, all while he was planning his future with you.”
Vanessa’s eyes widen. She looks at Derek.
“You said you were going to tell her.”
“You said you were waiting for the right time.”
“Oh my god.”
Nathan laughs, but there’s no humor in it.
“You told her that you told my wife that you were leaving your wife.”
“It’s not. It wasn’t like that.” Dererick stammers.
“Then what was it like?” I ask.
“Explain it to me.”
“Explain how you could look me in the eye every single day and lie.”
“Explain how you could sleep next to me at night after being with her.”
“Explain how you could kiss our daughter good night and then sneak out to be with someone else’s family.”
He doesn’t have an answer.
The waiter returns with our food. He sets the plates down carefully, clearly sensing the atmosphere, but professionally ignoring it.
The moment he’s gone, Nathan picks up his fork.
“Eat,” he says to the table. “This is a celebration. Remember, anniversaries, love, commitment, all that—”
I pick up my own fork. My hands are steadier now. The initial confrontation is over.
And now comes the part I’ve been waiting for.
“You know what I realized?” I say conversationally, cutting into my salmon.
“You two aren’t special.”
“This isn’t some great love story.”
“You’re just two people who were bored with your lives and made a selfish choice.”
“Amber.” Derek tries.
“I’m not finished.” I say.
“You want to know what hurts the most? It’s not even the cheating.”
“It’s that you made me doubt myself.”
“You made me feel like I was the problem.”
“Like I wasn’t enough.”
“Like I was seeing things that weren’t there.”
I take a bite of salmon. It’s delicious.
“And you?” I look at Vanessa.
“You have a daughter, Lily, right?”
“She’s eight. Same age as Madison.”
“Did you ever think about what this would do to her?”
“What happens when she finds out mommy broke up two families because she couldn’t keep her legs closed?”
“Don’t you dare.”
Vanessa’s voice shakes.
“Don’t you dare talk about my daughter.”
“Why not?”
“You didn’t think about her.”
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