“Honestly, people make mistakes,” he said with a shrug.
“Oh, not this again! That Natalie is gone, and yet you still bring her up, picking at me endlessly. Emma, can we just drop it? We have more pressing matters to deal withlike Sophie.”
Emma raised her eyebrows, stunned. For a moment, she stayed silent, wondering if shed misheard. Any second now, hed probably blame her for his own infidelity.
“Daniel, youve got the wrong door. My priorities are different now. The only pressing matter I have is filing for divorce.”
“Divorce?!” he scoffed. “For heavens sake, weve been fine all this time! Nearly ten years have passed. We couldve gone on like this if you hadnt found out. What does it even change?”
“It changes everything,” Emma said, staring straight at him. “All these years, Ive been living a lie. And now youre acting like its nothing.”
His stubbornness grated on her as much as the betrayal itself. Shed known Daniel for over twenty-five years. She recognized the way his brow furrowed when criticized, how his lips thinned when he was upset. But this this was something new. It was as if she was seeing him for the first time.
“What illusions? I loved you all this time. Still do. That other thing” He waved a hand dismissively. “That was ancient history. Might as well not have happened.”
Hard to pretend it never happened when there was an eight-year-old child involved. Daniel now saw it as his sacred duty to bring the girl into their home. The alternative was his elderly mother, who could barely care for herself. Foster care was out of the questionhe insisted, like some chivalrous knight, that his children shouldnt grow up without parents.
Emma couldnt forgive the betrayal. Shed grown up in a family built on trust.
Her father was a homebody, her mother an adventurer. Mum could take off alone to Brighton on a whim, and Dad would wave her off at the station with a smile, helping with the luggage, never once suspicious. Likewise, Mum would kiss him goodbye on business trips, hand him a tin full of scones, and tuck a tiny cross into his coat pocket.
Yes, theyd had rows. Mum might raise her voice and slam a door, Dad could go silent for days. But they never doubted each others loyalty. Even when Dad had a few too many at office parties or family gatherings, his eyes only ever sought Mums, hugging her and praising her in front of everyone.
To Emma, that was the standard. She grew up certain: if you love someone, you trust them. And if you dont trust them, whats the point?
Sure, life with Daniel had been comfortable enough. Once, they had been happy. The only issue was children.
“Em, why rush? Let me get a proper job first, secure our future, then we can think about kids,” hed say, five years into their marriage.
“Times ticking. Im thirty, not getting younger. Neither are you. Or do you want our kid to grow up with grandparents instead of parents?” shed grumble.
She waited. But the “proper job” never came, and her biological clock didnt stop. She had to jump on the last trainor risk having no children at all. She gave birth at thirty-eight. Now her son was twelve.
Daniel took up work up north, gone for months at a time to support them. He brought in decent money but came home exhausted. Emma missed him, but she saw it as an investment in their future.
She didnt know he hadnt been as patient as she was.
“What did you expect? Three months alone. It barely even countedjust necessity. Doesnt mean anything,” he explained when the truth surfaced.
“Necessity?!” Emma snapped. “Funny, I dont have men lined up outside. Are we made of different stuff?”
“Well, youre a woman. Its not the same for you.”
Maybe they really were made of different stuff. To Daniel, it was just a sliplike sneaking an extra biscuit. To Emma, it erased everything good between them.
She wouldnt even have known about the other woman if tragedy hadnt struck. If Daniel hadnt casually brought up what to do about Sophie now, as if discussing a grocery list.
“See, Daniel” Emma said, snapping back to the present. “I dont even blame the girl. If you strip away the situation, shes just an innocent child. But you? I dont want to live with you.”
He scoffed, waving her off.
“Whats gotten into you? Fine, well talk in the morning. Sleep on it.”
Come morning, Daniel brought in reinforcementshis mother, Margaret. She had a stake in this: if Emma refused, the girl would land in her lap. Naturally, she started pleading with Emma.
“Love, think of the girl! She needs you,” Margaret pressed. “Shell be a good companion in your old age. Boys leave the nest, but girls stay. Maybe its a blessing? Youre past having your own, and heres a ready-made child!”
“Margaret, I cant. I wont love her. How could I?”
“Oh, nonsense! Youll adapt. Plenty of women marry widowers with kids. Ever read *The Soldiers Son*? Or adopt children? It works for them!”
Emma exhaled sharply. One thought infidelity had an expiry date; the other compared it to wartime adoption. Meanwhile, Emma felt like shed been living someone elses life, blind to the cracks in their marriage.
“Margaret, those are choices people make together. I never agreed to this.”
“But the girls innocent.”
“And so am I.”
They talked for hours, never agreeing. To Margaret, it was a minor hiccup. To Emma, the end.
So that evening, she didnt open the door. She left Daniels bags in the hall, locked the bolt, and turned on her favourite show. Her nerves were frayed, but peace was already long gone. Daniel didnt even grasp what hed donehadnt apologised. Or maybe he was playing dumb.
Around seven, keys jangled in the lock. Then came the insistent knocking.
“Emma, I know youre there! Open up! Youre acting like a child!”
“Right. And youre the mature one, fathering kids across the country,” she shot back, leaning on the hallway table. “You wanted my decision. Here it is. Raise your daughter with your mum. Youll make a lovely trio.”
“Dont be daft! People slip upit happens!”
“Not to me. Not to me, Daniel. Take your Sophie and go. It doesnt matter how long its been. Betrayal doesnt expire.”
“At least let me say goodbye to Jack!”
“So you can upset him too?” Emma flared, then relented. “Fine. But Im not unlocking this door.”
“Twenty-five years, and now Im not even allowed inside” Daniel whined.
But Emma had stopped listening. She went to Jacks room. Hed been unusually quiet all evening, watching her pack Daniels things without a word. The shouting lately hadnt escaped him.
Even a child could see where this was headed.
“Jack, your dad wants to say goodbye.”
Jack didnt look up from his homework.
“I dont want to,” he muttered.
“Are you sure?” Emma asked softly, stepping closer.
She feared hed blame herfor not keeping his father. Or worse, choose to leave with Daniel. But
“Im sure. He used to be my hero. I thought he sacrificed so much for us. Now I dont want to see him, Mum.”
Emma sighed, pulling him into a hug. His words lifted a weight off her chest.
“I get it Im sorry I couldnt keep us together.”
“He lost this family, not you,” Jack said firmly, hugging back. “Im staying with you.”
Daniel was stunned when Jack refused to see him. He hammered on the door for ten more minutes, demanding to “talk properly,” but finally left.
Grief gnawed at Emma, but beneath it, relief rose. Shed drawn the line. Made her choice. Self-respect mattered more than the illusion of a “whole family.” And best of allher son wasnt like his father at all.
