The day my husband chose his mistress over our family changed everything. Fourteen years of marriage, two beautiful children, and countless memories meant nothing when Stan brought Miranda into our home and demanded a divorce. Her cruel comment about my appearance still stings, but it was Stan’s indifference that cut deepest.
In those first awful months, I focused on creating stability for Lily and Max. We moved into a small house, and I worked tirelessly to make it a home. Stan’s promised child support stopped coming, and his visits became increasingly rare until they stopped altogether. I later heard Miranda had convinced him to cut ties with his “old life.”
Three years later, I barely recognized the broken man sitting at that café table. Stan and Miranda were arguing about money when he spotted me. His desperate plea to reconnect with the kids was heartbreaking, but not as heartbreaking as his abandonment. When Miranda stormed off, leaving him alone at the table, I saw the truth – he’d traded everything for nothing.
Walking away that day, I didn’t feel vindictive. I felt grateful – for my resilient children, for the life we’d built together, and most of all, for realizing I never needed Stan to be happy.
