Chapter 10 - The Photograph
The photograph showed Gavin meeting with a property consultant.
The date mattered.
It had been taken months before I discovered the affair.
Preston claimed Gavin had discussed borrowing against property he did not actually control.
My lawyer investigated rather than accepting Preston's claims at face value.
Some details checked out.
Others couldn't be verified.
That became another lesson.
When you've been betrayed, every accusation against the person who hurt you feels believable.
But pain isn't evidence.
So I stopped chasing rumors.
I focused on what could be proved.
Meanwhile, Evelyn grew.
She smiled.
Then laughed.
Then discovered that grabbing my hair was apparently the funniest activity on Earth.
Life became wonderfully ordinary.
Diapers.
Laundry.
Bottles.
Midnight rocking.
Sunday breakfasts with June.
Walks with my mother.
Occasional visits from Lorraine, who never once asked me to forgive Gavin.
One afternoon, she held Evelyn and whispered, “Your father loves you. He just has a lot to learn.”
I respected her for that.
She didn't poison my daughter against him.
Neither would I.
Then Lorraine handed me an envelope.
“Gavin gave me this.”
I didn't take it.
“What is it?”
“A letter.”
“I don't want it.”
“He said it's for Evelyn when she's older.”
That changed my answer.
I took the envelope.
I placed it inside a locked document box.
And I didn't open it.
Because one day, Evelyn could decide for herself.
That choice belonged to her.
Mine was already made.
But Maren had one more choice to make too.
May you like
And when she made it, Gavin finally had to face both women in the same room.
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