The chair legs screeched against the floor as Sage pushed back, rising to her feet.
Amanda caught her wrist. "Wait. Please."
Her eyes brimmed, luminous and wet. She was the kind of woman who looked beautiful, even in tears—delicate nose flushed pink, full mouth trembling. For one dizzying moment Sage felt something strange, like a flicker of recognition, as though she had seen Amanda before, but it vanished instantly.
Amanda's voice wobbled as she leaned forward, eyes glistening. "I never meant for this to happen, Sage. I swear I didn't. To be the other woman in someone else's marriage...now I'm everything I always hated." Her hand trembled as she brushed at her cheek. "My only excuse was that he was kind, and I had no one else."
Sage's hand on the armrest tightened, her knuckles white.
"Don't blame him," Amanda pressed on, desperation seeping into her words. "Please. This is on me. I'm planning to move away; I got a job offer in France as an interpreter. It's a chance to start over, to fix what I've broken."
She swallowed hard, her gaze fixed on Sage. "All I'm asking is...give him a chance. Don't make him pay for my mistakes."
Sage pulled her hand free. She couldn't speak, couldn't look back, but she also couldn't unhear the baby's gurgle and whimper in the basket. She walked to the car park with her silence wrapped around her like armour, every step dragging until she thought she might collapse.
To hear about the baby was one thing, but to actually see the evidence...
On the drive home, Sage knew it, she could no longer stay. Not for a week, not for a day. The decision solidified with every mile, both terrifying and oddly steadying.
It was just after one when she pulled into the driveway. She sat in the car for a long moment, phone in hand, drafting the email to David's class teacher.
Dear Mrs. Nolan,
Could you please change David's primary contact number to his father's? I will be unavailable for the foreseeable future.
Kind regards
Sage
Her thumb hesitated before pressing send. One more message—short, clipped—to the school office confirming her non-availability.
As she stepped out, her elderly neighbour, Gwenda, looked up from her garden, while leaning on the low fence. "How are you, dear? You're looking awfully pale, my love. "
Her voice was warm, concerned, but Sage could barely hold herself together. She forced a smile, lifted a hand in vague acknowledgment, and quickly moved inside before the cracks showed.
At the kitchen table, she wrote a detailed set of instructions on a sheet of paper. The frozen meals stacked in the freezer. The dates of David's football matches. His classes. His trips. Passwords and reminders of payments to be made. Each line was neat, controlled, written with the precision of someone trying not to shake.
Upstairs, she packed. Her bag was small and contained only a few practical outfits. Her purse had a little over £400 in cash, and the rest—nearly £100,000 from the jewellery sale and the transfers she had made from the joint account—was safely in the new account She left the joint card behind, tucked under a book on Ronin's side of the dresser.
Then she sat at her desk and pulled out a sheet of paper.
The words came haltingly at first, then rushed, spilling out in loops of ink.
My dearest David,
As I sit down to write these words, my heart feels heavier than it ever has. If I have ever given you the impression that it is acceptable to let someone you love betray you, then I have failed you as a mother. It is not alright. Please understand that.
You are nearly a man now, and I need you to know how deeply your choice to keep his affair from me for two long months has broken my heart. It will take time to rebuild my trust in you. You are still a child, but you must begin to learn that actions have consequences. No one in this world would forgive these trespasses as a mother does, but even so, I need time to get over this one.
This is not your burden to carry, David. It is up to your father and me to decide what to do with our relationship. You do not bear the blame or the weight of that choice.
What you do need to know, what I pray you will never doubt, is that my love for you remains as constant as the air I breathe. Nothing will ever take that from you. I will regain my trust in you, and I will always love you.
But I am only human. I feel as though one more hit, one more betrayal, would break me beyond the point of wanting to continue. That is why I need space now, to remember who I am beyond your mother and your father's partner. And I can't do it when every inch of this house reminds me of the lie I have been living.
Please don't try to find me. I will call when I know where I'm going to be.
Hold on to the truth of this, David; you are good, and you are loved beyond measure. None of this takes that away. This is not goodbye. I will see you soon.
