Chapter 4

I started packing.

After seven years with Chandler, nearly everything in the house carried a memory of us together.

I selected essentials for my suitcase and threw everything else away. Pictures of me and Chandler, every gift he'd given me, souvenirs from our travels, matching couple's pajamas and slippers… I figured that once Heather moved in, they wouldn't want to see any of it anyway.

As I was sorting through my belongings, there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find Alfie standing outside.

"The room next to mine is really noisy, Mom. I can't sleep."

If I remembered correctly, the room next to his was Grandma's.

"You can sleep with me tonight, sweetheart," I said. Alfie obediently climbed onto my bed, and I hummed a lullaby until he drifted off.

Once he was asleep, I quietly slipped out of the room and approached Grandma's room. As I drew closer, I could unmistakably hear heavy breathing and muffled sounds from within.

"Not so loud, Chandler… What if someone hears?"

"Don't worry. Alfie sleeps like a rock, and no one will notice. Or perhaps… you like the thrill of it?"

The bed creaked rhythmically before I heard Heather's sweet, intimate voice. "Darling, who's sexier? Me or Danielle?"

Chandler seemed spurred on by her calling him "darling," and his movements grew rougher. "You, of course, my dear wife. She's had a child, so her body isn't the same anymore."

I wanted to burst into the room and demand answers from Chandler.

Did that mean I wasn't the person he fell in love with? Or was it simply that youth, a perfect body, and the newness of it all were more important?

But my hand rested weakly on the doorknob. I couldn't turn it.

I felt like a fool. The forged marriage certificate, his clear favoritism toward Heather, and their entangled bodies right now were the best answers I could ever receive.

After a final, intense moan, the movement in the room stilled. I turned and quickly walked away.

Back in my room, I gently closed the door, only to hear Alfie's voice behind me. "Mom."

I turned to see him standing by the bed, looking up at me with careful eyes. "Did Dad find a new woman? Is he going to leave us?"

My heart ached like it was being squeezed tight. Even at his young age, he could sense that something was wrong, but this wasn't a burden a child should carry.

I stroked his hair and tried to comfort him. "It's okay, sweetheart. Your dad will never abandon you."

"But what about you, Mom? I saw you packing. Are you leaving Dad?"

I hadn't realized he'd noticed, so I had no choice but to nod quietly.

Alfie wrapped his arms tightly around my hand and said, "I'm leaving with you. I don't want that woman to be my mom; I only want you."

For some reason, tears welled up in my eyes once more. "Okay."

Holding Alfie close as though he were my greatest treasure, I finally fell asleep.