Page 61 of Inspiring Izzy

Steve is showing Brianna our wedding pictures on his phone as I sip my coffee at the dining room table. He's filling her head with ideas. Ideas about Mommy and Daddy living together again. Ideas about us getting back together.

He's playing a dangerous game here

Brianna isn't a pawn; she's a child.

The fact that he would stoop so lowinfuriatesme.

"Doesn't Mommy look beautiful?" Steve points to his phone screen, looks over his shoulder, and smiles at me.

"She looks just like a princess," Brianna says as I roll my eyes.

Mom swats at me before muttering under her breath, "Your face. Control it."

"I'm trying to," I grit my teeth. "But he's pushing it today."

"He'll only be here for another week," Mom tries consoling me as she sits beside me at the table. "Just keep it together a little longer."

"I'm going into the office," I tell her as I stand. I can't stay here. I can't deal with Steve and his silly shenanigans.

"But it's Saturday," Mom frowns.

"If I don't leave now," I give her a fake smile, "I will say something I'm going to regret later."

"We could grab brunch," Mom suggests.

"Brunch?" Steve overhears. "That sounds awesome."

"I have to head into work this morning," I shrug. "But Mom loves brunch. You two should take Brianna."

Mom's mouth forms a tight line. "I'm sure Matt would love to go, too."

"Sounds like anawesometime," I scrunch my nose.

Brianna runs over to me with the doll Brady got her in her arms. "Will you be home soon?"

I kneel in front of her. "Yes. I was thinking we could go over to Aunt Ava's this afternoon and see your cousins. What do you think about that?"

"Can Daddy come, too?" She squeals with excitement.

I nod, hiding the anger and rage building in my chest.

"Yep." At least Jack will be there to distract Steve.

Brianna hugs me as I squeeze her tight. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, baby."

I wave goodbye and grab my purse before practically jumping into my car. I can hear Steve calling after me, but I throw the car in reverse and high-tail it out of there. I can't handle another Steve talk. He keeps telling me he's going to change and he wants to work on our marriage.

I mean, where the fuck was he when I wanted to work on our marriage? Where was he when I begged him to change?

Now, I'm the bad guy. I'm the one not thinking about our daughter. I'm the one who's splitting our family upforgood. I'm the one who's breaking our little girl's heart. Or so Steve keeps telling me.

This was supposed to be an amicable split. I was supposed to move to Colorado while Steve worked on himself. It's only been two months. That's barely enough time to work on most of the things he was struggling with. That's not to say I don't have things I need to work on, but he's not sticking to the plan. He's changing things. I'm trying to be OK with whatever choices he's making, but he's using Brianna to guilt me into being a family again. That's not coparenting. That's sabotage.

I need food. I need chocolate.

I decide to stop at Angie's and grab breakfast before heading into the office. I desperately need to catch up on filing. I've been avoiding Brady since we had coffee four days ago, which has made filing documents nearly impossible. I still don't understand why the cabinets are in his office. They should be in a neutral zone. A place where there is no temptation to stare at him the whole time.

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