Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“I want a divorce,” I echoed again, trying my best to not show my fear. “It doesn’t matter what I do, or you do, because we aren’t together, Henry. We haven’t been for a very long time. I just want this to end.”
“No,” he said matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“I said no. You can’t leave me. If you do, you’ll lose Ava, and I know that’s the last thing you want.”
“I don’t want this to be messy, Henry. We both love Ava. So, let’s do what’s best for her.”
“What’s best for her is our family staying together.”
“No, what’s best is happy parents.”
“You aren’t even her real parent. I am. It was me and her before you, and it will be me and her after you.”
I didn’t want to play dirty, but he was making it hard. He was cutting me deeply with his words, and all I had in my mind was that I needed to protect Ava. I needed my daughter. “I don’t want to get messy, Henry, but our prenup talks about infidelity. And I know how important your social image is to you. I don’t want to, but I will reveal the fact that you cheated on me, now that I have proof of it, to the court system. And those would be public records. I don’t want to do that, so just let me go. We can make an arrangement so that we both have time with Ava. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”
“Are you threatening me? You’re saying you’ll smear my name?”
“I don’t want to…” I argued. “But I will do whatever it takes to have Ava in my life.”
He laughed and shook his head. “You don’t even have proof of my infidelity. You have nothing to go on…but I do. I doubt anything you say will be as powerful as the footage I have of you actually hooking up with Gabriel.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
“You think I only had a tracking device on your phone with no recording abilities? I’m fucking Henry Hughes, Kierra. I’m master at technology. I see everything you do. Every step you take. Every breath you breathe. I see it all. You think last night was the first time I noticed you running off with him? No. It’s just the first time I mentioned it to you.”
I felt as if my heart sank to the pit of my stomach as I realized the one form of leverage that I thought I had against my husband was now in his hands. He’d been watching me? For how long? That sent a wave of fear soaring through me. I felt exposed in a way that I would’ve never expected.
I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t get it. You’re not even happy with me. Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just let me go?”
“Because you’re mine,” he said. “I’ve built plenty of machines, but you’re my favorite little robot.” The way he claimed me made my skin crawl. It dripped of control. I wanted to blame the whiskey, but truthfully Henry had acted that way for a long time—as if I was his. Not his wife, but his property. I was one of his little robots that did exactly what he wanted, whenever he wanted, and if I stepped out of line, he tried to tweak me just enough to return to his favorite version of me—the one who didn’t talk back or speak up. The one who stood in his shadow at his dinner parties. The one who didn’t have an ounce of confidence in herself because he’d drained it all. Only now he couldn’t control me, because I was waking up from my deep slumber. I was waking from the nightmare of my past years. Henry was losing control over me, and that terrified him. But I didn’t care.
I was breaking free.
Which meant he was losing grip on his reality as I began to step within my own.
“You can’t leave me,” he stated.
“Yes, I can and I am.” I said the words, yet they were filled with uncertainty. I didn’t know what he’d do next or how he’d react. I didn’t know the thoughts swirling through his head. I didn’t know the panicking of his heartbeats. All I knew was I couldn’t live another year the way I’d lived the past decade. I knew I couldn’t make it another four years until Ava was eighteen—let alone another week, truthfully.
He lowered his head and placed his face in his hands. “Don’t you see?” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Everything’s falling apart.”
“Or maybe for the first time ever, everything’s coming together,” I said calmly, still feeling unsure of what his next outburst might be. That was until he began sobbing uncontrollably into his hands. His heavy cries broke a part of my heart that I didn’t know still beat for him. Even though I studied emotions and feelings on deep levels, I still didn’t always understand how they worked. How was it possible for me to feel the amount of guilt I did in that moment for the man who’d hurt me for so long? Why did I feel a need to comfort my demon? Why did it feel as if I were the one who betrayed him, and not the other way around?