More silence.
“I became a service, Daniel. Not your mother. And you let it happen.”
“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“I know. But sorry doesn’t give me back three years of my life. It doesn’t give me back my dignity.”
I then took the USB drive out of my pocket.
I placed it on the table next to the notebook.
“What is that?” he asked, wiping his tears.
“Listen to it when you get home, but do it alone. Emily can’t be there.”
“Why?”
“Because if you listen to it together, you’ll end up getting a divorce tonight. And even though your wife made my life impossible, your children don’t deserve a broken home.”
Daniel picked up the USB drive as if it were a bomb.
“Mom, what’s on here?”
“The truth. Seventeen recordings of conversations where Emily talks about me when she thinks I’m not listening. Where she plans how to get rid of me. Where she makes fun of me with her friends.”
