This Time, I Walked Away

"It's late. Linda's tired. She's fragile—give her the bed. We'll take the floor," Joshua said.Linda tugged his sleeve. "You've got class tomorrow. You won't sleep right. I'll take the floor.""You're soaked. If you don't rest, you'll get sick.""No, you take the bed. I'll be fine."They went back and forth like I wasn't even there.Finally, Joshua caved. "Whatever. We'll both sleep in the bed. Come on."I just stared, stunned."Joshua Ziegler! I'm still here and you're crawling into bed with another girl? Are you serious?"He waved me off. "What, you think something's gonna happen right in front of you? Don't throw your trashy small-town mindset at us. This is just a teacher helping a student."I pointed right at them. "Teacher-student bond, my ass. You two are just cheating trash. I'm going to the university president—see if all your students share a bed with their teaching staff!"Linda burst into tears. "Mrs. Ziegler, if you tell him that, I'm done. I never should've come

I took Mia and headed straight to Aunt Freya's place in Pineville, the address still burned into my memory.We hadn't seen each other in almost twenty years. The second she saw me, her eyes welled up.I gave her the short version of everything I'd been through. She grabbed my hand, barely holding it together."Carmen, you're really going through with the divorce? What about the gossip? You've got a kid—this could ruin your life.""I don't care anymore. Let them talk. Times have changed. I just... I don't know how any of this works. Please help me."Right then, there was a knock at the door. A tall guy walked in, all charm and that easy, warm smile."Philip, come here," Aunt Freya said. "This is Carmen—my brother's daughter. I wanted to adopt her back then, but he sold her to the Zieglers instead. So I raised you.""Carmen, You're in luck," she added. "My son's in law. He's got this."That night, I went home and dropped the divorce papers Philip had put together right in front o

My whole heart was his. It felt like pure honey.That had to be love—the kind city people always talked about.Back then, I thought I was lucky. I got to spend my life with the guy I loved. No matter how tough things got, it all felt worth it.The year he got into college, I found out I was pregnant.Right before he left, he couldn't keep his hands off me. Kept pulling me into bed, over and over.When he came back for winter break, I had our daughter. He doted on us, even brought gifts from Pineville.He went with me to register her birth and get our marriage certificate.Back then, everything still felt perfect.But slowly, he stopped writing. Barely came home during breaks.Still, I believed in him. I thought we had something real—something we both fought for.When he finally graduated, he said he landed a job as a TA because of his top grades. Said he'd be a college professor someday.I cried that night, so sure the hard part was finally behind us.I used to dream about

Mia ran to me, shaking, sobbing. "Daddy, don't hit Mommy. That lady started it."He slapped her. "You're just like her—liars, both of you. Linda's sweet. She wouldn't upset anyone."I pulled Mia in, wrapped her up."Not another word," I whispered.Then I locked eyes with Joshua. "Divorce. Now."Linda clung to his arm. "Mr. Ziegler, don't let this ruin things. It's just a misunderstanding. Please don't get divorced."He wasn't hearing any of it. Full meltdown."Fine! Let's get divorced!"He yanked the papers from a drawer and signed them without blinking.I stood up, grabbed our packed bags, and walked out with Mia.As we passed, I caught Linda frowning, like she didn't actually want us to split.Weird. She said all that trash to shove me out—so why the sad face now?Didn't matter. I was done. Time to go and actually live.The little house I'd just rented was cleaned up and ready to go.Mia and I could move in right away.I still had some cash saved from years of hustling

Neighbors said he hadn't come home.We raced back to the school, asking around, but all we got was, "He's on leave."We searched till nightfall. I walked out, exhausted, crying.Right as I was about to get in the car, a hand grabbed my arm.I turned—Linda."Looking for Joshua?""You've seen him? Do you know where my daughter is?"She pulled back, arms crossed. "He took her to his hometown. Heard he sold her for five grand—to a family with a disabled son."My brain just shut off. Legs gave out. I hit the ground.Philip caught me. "I'm driving. We might still have time."He gunned it toward my hometown.We rolled into the small town around 3 a.m.The place was dead—just a few dogs barking in the dark.I ran up and pounded on the door of Susan's house—Joshua's mom.Took her forever to open up. "Bang bang bang—what the hell's your problem!""Susan! Where's Joshua? Where's Mia?"She yawned like we'd just woken her from a nap. "How should I know?"I dropped to my knees. "Ple