Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 30

I didn’t sleep.I sat on the edge of the short bed with Brenda’s words still in my ear and the street outside going quiet one car at a time. Damien had filed for adultery and alienation of affection. My name next to Adrian’s like we had planned the whole thing together.When the sky started to lighten I washed my face, put on clean clothes, and went to the kitchen before Mama could come looking for me.Unfortunately, she was already there.“You didn’t sleep,” she said.“Brenda called last night.”“And?”“Damien filed against me and Adrian. He’s calling it adultery and alienation of affection.”Mama set the kettle down harder than she needed to.“He put another woman in your bed and now he is suing you for leaving??”“Yes.”“What kind of shameless man is that?? Call Brenda back. Then you eat something before you fall over.”I called Brenda at seven.She picked up on the second ring.“I was about to call you,” she said. “I have the filing. It’s messy and it’s meant to be messy.”“What d

I barely slept again.By morning the emergency application was already in my email from Brenda, full of long sentences that all meant the same thing. Damien wanted the court to freeze Adrian’s hands in Blackwood, and he wanted an order that I should not stay in any property linked to Vale while the adultery case was pending.Mama read the look on my face and didn’t ask if I was going. She only said, “Eat, then go. Do not let that man speak for you in a room where you are silent.”Brenda called while I was putting on my shoes.I picked it up immediately.“There are two things today,” she said. “Vale has the review meeting this morning. Your hearing is at two. You need to be at court for the afternoon. The temporary orders are about you, so the judge will want to see you.”“Do I have to sit next to Adrian?”“No. You can sit with me. Vale will be there because his name was there too. Damien will perform as always just keep your answers short.”“Understood.”Adrian called a minute later a

I read the Herald headline once and then I put the phone face down because reading it twice would have made it more real than I could handle before having breakfast.Mama watched me over her cup.“You’re not opening the shop today??” she said.“I am.”“After that article?”“That’s exactly why I’m going to open it. If I stay home, it looks like I got put away.”She didn’t like my answer, but she didn’t stop me.I went to the shop and did the same thing I always. I unlocked. I checked the orders. I answered one customer and ignored three messages that started with some version of my name beside Adrian’s. By noon the ordinary things I did were not enough. Every quiet minute left room for the same thought.People were writing about me and Adrian like we were a single problem, and the two of us had not even sat in the same room since the hallway outside court.I locked up earlier than I should have and sat in my car with the engine off.I could go home.I could call Brenda or I could text

I showed Mama the photo because hiding it felt worse than letting her see it.She put on her glasses, stared at Adrian’s car and the caption under it, then gave the phone back like it had dirt on it.“So they are watching this house now,” she said.“Yes.”Papa came out of the hallway and took the phone from my hand without asking. He read it once and gave it back.“From tomorrow, the curtains stay half drawn. If any strange car sits on this street too long, we call the police. I am not asking, this is what we would start doing from now.”“Okay,” I said.Mama pointed at the chair.“Sit.”I sat.Papa stayed standing for a moment, then lowered himself into his seat with a sound that reminded me he was getting older and I had brought chaos to his door.“I asked you a question when that man was here,” Papa said. “You gave me a careful answer. I want a real one now.”I knew what was coming.“Are you with him?”“I don’t know.”“That is not good enough tonight.”Mama’s voice cut in, quieter a

I told Brenda I would go before I could talk myself out of it.She didn’t praise me for it. She only said, “Then we go for one reason which is his signature. If he starts performing, I’ll end the meeting.”Mama hated the location more than the meeting itself.“He chose that building to humiliate you,” she said at breakfast.“I know.”“And you are still going?”“If he signs, it is worth the insult. If he doesn’t, the whole city sees that peace was never what he wanted.”Papa drove me to Brenda’s office first and made me promise to call the moment I stepped back out. He did not come with us to Adrian’s building, and I was grateful. I could not take another person I loved sitting across from Damien while he played wounded husband.In the car Brenda went over the same point until it stuck.“You do not explain the bedroom. You do not defend Adrian. You do not apologize for the statement. Short answers. If he raises his voice, just look at me.”“Alright.”My phone buzzed once on the way.Ad