Page 41 of Absolution

My parents, they warned me. One of our biggest fights was about him. They didn’t like that he was older, didn’t like that I said we wanted to start a familyright away. They told me to slow down, to think. They tried to make me see it for what it was: a trap disguised as love.

But I didn’t listen. Didn’t tell them about the prenup. Didn’t tell them I gave up college because “we’d figure it out together.” I thought I was being loyal. Now I just feel stupid.

I can’t stay. Not after this.

God, his behaviour lately already pushed me hard, but this? This is different. This is betrayal with intention. This isplanned. Rehearsed. Comfortable.

He can’t come back from it. And honestly, I’m not even sure he’dwantto.

I’ve seen that other side of him, the lawyer. The man who smiles in court and slices someone’s future apart in three sentences. The man who cut his own grandfather out of his life and never looked back.

That side of him used to make me feel safe. Now I know better.

Because that version of Kyle? He’s coming for me next.

He might apologize. Might say all the right things. But the second the veil of family harmony slips, he’ll be ruthless. And he’ll come for the kids.

I need a lawyer. But who? He’s worked with practically every civil firm in Austin or knows someone who has. The second I walk into an office,he’ll find out.

And that’ll be it. No warning. No second chance. No space to breathe.

If I want to survive this, I have to be smarter. Smarter than the man I once trusted with everything.

Becausenow, I’m on my own. And I’ve got three kids to protect.

The trip home is long. And painful. I left the kids with Marianne at our house. She’s been staying there a lot lately. Took a break from her job as a surgeon, something Cory and I both thought was long overdue. She worked in the ICU straight through the worst of Covid, barely sleeping, barely breathing. We were scared she’d break the same way I did.

Thankfully, she didn’t wait for the crash. She stepped away, choosing herself.

Cory, ever the EMT, said she earned a hundred breaks and then some. So when she offered to watch the kids, even suggested I take the trip, I said yes.

Now here I am, racking my brain for the name of a lawyer who isn’t already in Kyle’s pocket. I know plenty, but all of them, every single one, I met through him.

And I know how this works. One wrong move, and he’ll be the first to find out.

I really want to Google it. Searchdivorce lawyer, Austin, prenup, custody. But I’m scared of the rabbit hole. What I need isn’t a name right now, it’s a lifeline.

So, I search something else.

Support group for being cheated on.

A dozen results pop up. One in particular stands out. A small group that meets at the community centre near our neighbourhood. Kyle wouldn’t be caught dead there. Neither would anyone from his circle.

It’s exactly what I need.

Now the bigger question: Do I tell Marianne and Cory?

My siblings love me. And their first instinct will be to drive straight to where Kyle is and punch him in the throat. That won’t help me right now. I need strategy, not emotion.

Still...they’remypeople.

I’m still going back and forth when the cab pulls up outside the house. It’s dark. The porch light’s on. The kids are probably asleep. I unlock the door and walk in.

Marianne and Cory are on the couch watching TV. The second they see me, they stand.

“Hey,” they say in unison.

“Are the kids asleep?” I ask, barely holding it together.

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