Chapter 6 - The Last Night in the Mansion
On the final night before our divorce, Marcus came home.
He stood in the entrance hall with a garment bag over one shoulder and looked around as if he were visiting a house that already belonged to someone else.
Most of the family photographs had been packed. His office shelves were empty. The children’s suitcases waited beside the stairs.
“You’re taking them somewhere?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“You’ll receive the travel information required by our custody agreement.”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m their father.”
“And I have never suggested otherwise.”
“You could have discussed this with me.”
“I tried discussing many things with you. You were usually busy.”
Marcus followed me into the kitchen.
For the first time in months, he looked uncertain rather than arrogant.
“Julianne, did Penelope come here yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“What did she want?”
“You should ask her.”
“I did. She said she wanted to apologize.”
“Then perhaps that is what she wanted.”
He studied my face.
“You know something.”
I placed the final set of house keys on the counter.
“I know that tomorrow our marriage ends.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
“It is the only subject we still share.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Were you ever going to fight for us?”
The question stunned me.
“You handed me divorce papers because another woman was pregnant, moved out of our home and planned an engagement celebration. What exactly did you expect fighting to look like?”
“I expected you to care.”
“I cared enough to tell you the timeline did not make sense.”
“You wanted Penelope to be lying.”
“No, Marcus. I wanted my husband not to betray me.”
He looked away.
For a moment, I saw shame in his expression.
Then his phone vibrated.
Penelope.
He silenced the call.
It was a small gesture, offered far too late.
“What would happen if I stopped the divorce?” he asked.
My heart did not leap. That told me everything.
“Would you end the relationship with Penelope?”
He hesitated.
“She’s carrying my child.”
“You still have not confirmed that.”
“I cannot abandon her based on a date.”
“But you abandoned us based on her word.”
His face tightened.
“That’s unfair.”
“No. It is simply a sentence you don’t enjoy hearing.”
Marcus walked to the window.
“Maybe after the baby is born, we can establish a better relationship.”
“For the children, I hope we can.”
“I meant you and me.”
I looked at him for a long time.
“Tomorrow, I will become someone you used to know.”
The phone vibrated again.
This time, Marcus answered.
“Penelope? Slow down. What happened?”
I heard her crying through the speaker.
Marcus grabbed his coat.
“She’s having pain. I need to take her to the hospital.”
“Then go.”
He paused at the door.
“Julianne…”
But there was nothing left to say.
May you like
After he left, I went upstairs and found Sophie and Ethan asleep together in Sophie’s bed.
I lay beside them until sunrise.
