CHAPTER 4 — THE APPOINTMENT OLIVIA HID
Daniel waited until the nurse left before asking again.
“Did you see a divorce attorney?”
Olivia’s eyes filled with exhaustion rather than guilt.
“Yes.”
The answer made his chest feel hollow.
“When?”
“When I was seven months pregnant.”
“Why?”
Olivia looked toward Sophie, sleeping in the clear hospital bassinet.
“Because I was afraid nothing would ever change.”
Daniel sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The night your mother called me selfish for wanting the baby shower at my sister’s house. I told you I couldn’t keep living with her involved in every decision.”
Daniel remembered.
He had kissed Olivia’s forehead and said Patricia only wanted to feel included.
Another memory followed.
Olivia asking him to take back the emergency key.
Daniel promising he would handle it.
He never had.
“I thought you were upset,” he said.
“I was terrified.”
“Of my mother?”
“Of losing myself.”
Her voice cracked.
“She chose the name of our wedding venue. She invited people we didn’t know. She changed our seating chart. When we bought the house, she told the realtor which neighborhood we should choose. When we learned I was pregnant, she announced it before I could tell my own parents.”
Daniel lowered his head.
He had an explanation for every incident.
Patricia was excited.
Patricia meant well.
Patricia had been lonely since the divorce.
Every explanation had required Olivia to endure more.
“The attorney told me to document everything,” Olivia continued. “Not because I wanted to leave immediately. Because I needed to know I had a way out.”
“Were you planning to take Sophie?”
“If you kept choosing your mother over us, yes.”
Daniel could not blame her.
That hurt more than anger would have.
“Why did Patricia know?”
Olivia stared at him.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel remembered Patricia entering their house whenever she pleased. Moving papers. Opening drawers. Throwing away mail she called junk.
The attorney’s business card had been inside Olivia’s desk.
“She searched your things.”
“Probably.”
Daniel took her hand.
“I’m sorry.”
Olivia’s tears finally spilled.
“I don’t need an apology because you’re scared of losing me. I need you to understand what happened.”
“I do.”
“No, Daniel. You understand tonight. But what happens next month when she cries? What happens when relatives call you cruel? What happens when she says she’s sick?”
Daniel had no easy answer.
So he gave the only honest one.
“I don’t know.”
Olivia pulled her hand away.
“That’s what scares me.”
Before Daniel could respond, his phone vibrated.
A social media notification appeared.
Patricia had posted a photograph of herself standing outside Daniel’s house, surrounded by garbage bags.
The caption read:
MY SON THREW HIS MOTHER INTO THE STREET BECAUSE HIS WIFE GAVE HIM AN ULTIMATUM. PLEASE PRAY THAT HE ESCAPES THIS ABUSIVE MARRIAGE.
May you like
The post had already been shared ninety-three times.
And beneath it, relatives were demanding answers.
