Chapter 3 - The Shattered Glass
The warm water turned cloudy with vanilla frosting as I gently washed my daughter's hair. Lily was quiet now, her tears reduced to the occasional hiccup. The resilience of children always amazed me, but the damage inflicted on her spirit today wasn't something that could be washed away with soap.
"Mommy?" Lily whispered, looking up at me with large, watery eyes. "What did that lady mean? About Daddy buying her cakes?"
My heart fractured into a thousand sharp pieces. I smoothed a wet curl away from her forehead, forcing a reassuring smile that I absolutely did not feel. "She was just saying mean, silly things because she's a very unhappy person, bug. Daddy loves you more than anything in the whole world."
Once Lily was in her pajamas and tucked into bed, watching her favorite cartoon with Chloe sitting faithfully by her side, I walked down the stairs. The house was dead quiet.
Mark was in the kitchen. He had a trash bag open and was mindlessly scooping chunks of ruined cake into it. He looked up when I entered, his eyes bloodshot.
"Sarah..." he began, his voice cracking.
"Do not," I said, my voice lethal in its calm. I walked over to the kitchen island, placing my hands flat on the cool marble. "Do not try to spin this, Mark. Do not try to manage me like one of your accounts. Tell me exactly what is going on with that woman, and if I sense a single lie, I will pack Lily's bags tonight."
Mark dropped the paper towel. He leaned against the counter, burying his face in his hands. "It was a mistake. A stupid, meaningless mistake."
The cliché of it all made me nauseous. "How long?"
"Three months," he confessed, staring at the floor. "It started after the corporate retreat. But Sarah, I swear to God, I tried to end it. I told her it was over two weeks ago. I told her I loved you and Lily. She didn't take it well. She started showing up at the office, calling my private line. I didn't invite her today. I was terrified when she walked through the gate."
"You were terrified?" I laughed, a harsh, bitter sound that scraped my throat. "You brought a stalker to our daughter's eighth birthday party, Mark! You let that unhinged woman into our home, around our child, and when she assaulted Lily, your first instinct was to tell me to calm down!"
"I panicked! I didn't see what happened!"
"You saw her face!" I screamed, finally letting the rage loose. "You saw the way she looked at our child! You brought this infection into our house!"
"I am so sorry, Sarah. Please, we can fix this. We can go to counseling."
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"No," I said, standing up straight. The coldness returning, hardening my spine into steel. "You are going to pack a bag. You are going to leave this house tonight. If you refuse, I will call the police, show them the video of your mistress assaulting a minor, and have her arrested. And I will make sure everyone at your firm knows exactly why."
Mark knew I wasn't bluffing. Within twenty minutes, the front door clicked shut, leaving me standing in the wreckage of a life I thought I knew.
