“Terrifying, but incredible.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admit.
“I just know I can’t let him get away with this.”
“You’re not going to,” Jennifer says firmly.
“We’re going to get you the best divorce lawyer in the state.”
“We’re going to make sure you and Madison are taken care of, and we’re going to make Dererick regret every single choice he made.”
My phone starts buzzing.
Derek.
I decline the call. It buzzes again and again.
“He’s calling every few minutes,” I tell Jennifer. “Probably freaking out about the locks.”
“Good,” she says. “Let him freak out. Let him sleep in his car for all I care.”
My phone buzzes with a text this time.
“Please let me explain. This isn’t what you think. I love you. I love Madison. We can fix this.”
I show it to Jennifer.
“This isn’t what you think.” She reads aloud.
“Classic cheater line.”
“What does he think you think that he tripped and fell into her bed repeatedly for 7 months?”
Despite everything, I laugh. It’s a bitter sound, but it’s something.
Another text.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I made a mistake. Please let me come home.”
“A mistake is forgetting to pick up milk,” Jennifer says.
“This is a choice. Multiple choices every single day for seven months.”
She’s right. I know she’s right. But part of me, a small stupid part, wants to believe him. Wants to think that maybe we can fix this. That maybe our family doesn’t have to be destroyed.
Then I remember his face at that restaurant. The guilt, the fear, not because he betrayed me, but because he got caught.
I delete his messages without responding.
The next morning, I wake up to 17 missed calls from Derek and a voicemail from a number I don’t recognize. I play the voicemail first.
It’s Vanessa.
“Amber, this is Vanessa Bradley.”
“We need to talk.”
“What you and Nathan did last night was cruel and unnecessary.”
“Dererick and I, we care about each other.”
“This isn’t some sorted affair. We have real feelings.”
“And you ambushing us like that was—”
I delete it before she can finish.
The audacity, the absolute audacity of this woman to call me and lecture me about being cruel.
My phone rings again.
It’s Nathan.
“Hey,” I answer.
“You get any interesting calls this morning?”
“Vanessa left me four voicemails,” he says. “I haven’t listened to any of them.”
“You one from her. Apparently, we were cruel and unnecessary.”
He snorts.
“Yeah, that’s us, the real villains in this story.”
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“Honestly, I didn’t sleep.”
“Kept replaying everything in my head.”
“How long she’s been lying to me.”
“How stupid I’ve been.”
“You’re not stupid.”
“I believed her. Amber. Every excuse.”
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