11

Walking up to my own front door felt like approaching a crime scene. Maya's hand was steady on my arm as we climbed the steps, but I could feel my legs shaking underneath me. Three weeks in the hospital had left me weaker than I wanted to admit, and the weight of what I was about to do made every step feel harder.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Maya whispered as we reached the door.

"No," I said honestly. "But I'm doing it anyway."

The sound of laughter drifted through the windows. Light, musical laughter that definitely wasn't mine. I used my key - which surprisingly still worked - and stepped inside.

The scene that greeted me was like a knife to whatever was left of my heart.

My dining room table was set for three, with the good china I only used for special occasions. Candles flickered in the centerpiece, casting warm light over Alexander, Sophia, and Lucas as they enjoyed what looked like a perfect family dinner. Lucas was giggling at something Sophia had said, his face brighter than I'd seen it in months.

Sophia was wearing a flowing blue dress that made her look like she belonged in a magazine. And around her neck, catching the candlelight, was my mother's locket.

She was sitting in my chair, at my table, wearing my jewelry, laughing with my husband and son like I'd never existed.

Alexander noticed me first. His fork paused halfway to his mouth, and for a second, I saw something flicker across his face. Guilt? Annoyance? It was gone too quickly to tell.

"Oh good, you're back," Sophia said, not bothering to stand up. "We were wondering when you'd be discharged from your... episode."

Episode. Like my near-death experience was some kind of mental breakdown.

Lucas looked at me with curious eyes, like I was a stranger who'd wandered into his house. "Hi," he said quietly, then immediately turned back to Sophia. "Can you tell me more about the dolphins?"

"Of course, sweetie," Sophia said, touching his hand in a gesture that was so naturally maternal it made me want to scream. "Did you know dolphins can recognize themselves in mirrors?"

Maya stepped up beside me, and I could feel the anger radiating off her. "Well, this is cozy," she said loudly. "Playing house while Ivy was fighting for her life in the hospital."

"Maya," Alexander said in that warning tone he used when he thought someone was causing trouble. "This isn't a good time."

"Really? Because it looks like the perfect time to me." Maya's voice was getting sharper. "Ivy has something she needs to discuss with you."

I reached into my purse and pulled out the manila envelope my lawyer had given me that morning. My hands were steadier than I'd expected as I walked across the room and placed it next to Alexander's wine glass.

"What's this?" he asked, though his tone suggested he already knew.

"Divorce papers," I said simply. "I'm not asking for your permission. I'm informing you."

The silence that followed was deafening. Even Lucas stopped chattering about dolphins.

Sophia's face went through a series of expressions - surprise, calculation, then something that looked almost like fear. She'd probably expected me to come home broken and beaten, ready to accept whatever scraps they threw me.

Alexander stared at the envelope like it might bite him. "Ivy, what are you talking about? You can't be serious."

"I've never been more serious about anything in my life."

"But... but we're married," he stammered. "You can't just decide to get divorced without discussing it."

"The way you decided to give my mother's locket to another woman without discussing it?" I asked quietly. "The way you decided to let her move into our house and take over my life without discussing it?"

Alexander pushed back from the table and stood up. "You're being dramatic again. A few days apart doesn't mean divorce."

"A few days apart?" Maya laughed, but there was no humor in it. "She was in a coma for a week, you absolute waste of space. A week where you never once visited her."

"That's not true," Alexander said quickly. "I came to see her."

"To ask for blood for your girlfriend," Maya shot back. "That doesn't count as a visit."

Lucas was looking between all of us with wide, scared eyes. "Why is everyone yelling?"

Sophia immediately pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him protectively. "It's okay, baby. Sometimes adults just need to work through their feelings."

The casual way she called him 'baby' made my stomach clench. How long had she been using pet names with my son?

"Maybe Ivy just needs more time to recover from her breakdown," Sophia said gently, like she was trying to be helpful. "Hospitals can be very traumatic places. Sometimes people make big decisions when they're not thinking clearly."

"I'm thinking perfectly clearly," I said. "Clearer than I have in years."

Alexander grabbed the envelope and tore it open, scanning the papers inside. His face went from confused to angry to something that looked like panic.

"This is ridiculous," he said, crumpling the papers in his fist. "You can't divorce me, Ivy. We have a family. We have Lucas."

He threw the balled-up papers into the trash can like he was disposing of garbage.

"Why is Mommy being mean again?" Lucas asked in a small voice.

Mean. My son thought I was being mean for wanting a divorce from the man who'd almost killed me.

Sophia stroked Lucas's hair and looked at me with those perfectly innocent eyes. "Sometimes when people are hurt, sweetheart, they try to hurt other people back. But that doesn't make it right."

She was painting me as the villain. The bitter, vindictive wife who was destroying a happy family out of spite.

"Don't worry, Lucas," Sophia continued, touching my mother's locket with her free hand. "Some people leave when things get hard, but the people who really love you will always stay."

The fucking two faced bitch.

I looked at Alexander, waiting for him to correct her. To tell Lucas that divorce didn't mean I was leaving him. To show even a tiny bit of support for the woman who'd been his wife for three years.

Instead, he just stood there, letting her poison my child against me.

Why do I even bother with this man?

"Good luck with that, sweetheart," Sophia said, smiling at me while she fingered my mother's locket. "This family doesn't need you."

And just like that, I realized the truth. They'd already decided I was gone. In their minds, I was already erased from this picture. Sophia wasn't just stealing my life - she'd already taken it.

I wouldn’t let her keep it for long, because I will be back.