I closed my eyes. “And why are you telling me this?”
Mark exhaled. “Because Cole thinks he can spin it. He called you ’emotional.’ He said that he could always come back home because he knows how to ‘handle you.'”
I looked at the breakfast table, at the kids milling around, deciding what to do with their day.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I have six children, Mark. Leah is 12. I can’t hide this from her.”
“I know,” he agreed. “That’s why you need to come.”
I pressed mute. My youngest tugged at the hem of my shirt.
“Mommy?”
I crouched down and met her eyes. “Go sit with your brother, baby. I’ll be right there, okay?”
She nodded and padded off, dragging her stuffed bunny behind her.
I unmuted the call. “Fine. I’m coming.”
“I can’t hide this from her.”
I hung up and dialed Tessa from next door. She picked up after one ring.
“I need a favor,” I said.
“I’m already lacing up my sneakers, Paige,” she replied. “Just go.”
I didn’t even stop to change my clothes. I just grabbed my keys and purse, kissed the kids on their heads, and ran out.
The drive was a blur. My hands gripped the wheel too tight. My jaw ached from clenching. Rage sat beside me in the passenger seat.
**
“I need a favor.”
When I pushed through the office lobby doors, everything felt too polished, like a place where messes weren’t supposed to happen.
Mark was waiting near the front desk.
“They pulled reimbursement records,” he said as I approached. “Hotel bookings. Wellness claims. Several fancy gifts.”
I swallowed. “All tied to Alyssa?”
“They matched it all to her vendor profile,” Mark said grimly.
“Texts?”
“Oh yes,” he confirmed. “Expense reports, vendor logs, even his company phone records. HR’s got everything.”
“All tied to Alyssa?”
He jerked his chin toward the glass-walled conference room.
Through it, I saw Cole — standing, pacing, talking with his hands like he was giving a pitch. HR sat across from him, impassive. Darren, the CEO, looked exhausted. At the end of the table, a VP I’d only seen at the holiday party sat watching like a judge.
Then the door swung open.
Alyssa marched in, ponytail swinging, phone in hand, voice already raised. She didn’t bother to knock.
“What is she doing?” I whispered.
I saw Cole.
“Blowing it all up,” Mark said. “She’s furious they’re tying her name to this.”
HR raised a hand to calm her. Alyssa talked over it.
Then someone slid a manila folder across the table toward Cole. He stopped talking mid-sentence.
His entire posture shifted, like the wind had gone out of him.
**
About 20 minutes later, the door opened again. Cole stepped into the hallway, eyes wide when he saw me.
“Paige,” he said softly.
I didn’t move.
His entire posture shifted.
He stepped forward. “This isn’t what it looks like, honey.”
“I won’t do this in front of strangers. You did enough of that.”
Mark scoffed behind me.
“You said you’d send money,” I said. “I need it in writing. Then you’ll finally learn how to live without hiding behind a paycheck and lies.”
His jaw tightened. “Paige —”
“No.” I held up a hand. “You don’t get to ‘Paige’ me like we’re still a team.”
“I need it in writing.”
Behind him, Alyssa scoffed. “Oh my gosh.”
I turned to face her. She looked ready to launch, eyes narrowed, lips parted.
But before she could speak, the woman in the navy blazer stepped into the hallway.
“Alyssa,” she said, calm but ice-cold. “Your contract is terminated effective immediately. Legal will follow up. Don’t return to this building.”
“You’re joking, Deborah,” she said. “I work here.”
“Your contract is terminated.”
“This is not a discussion,” Deborah added, and the hallway went very quiet.
Cole turned. “You can’t just fire her like that —”
“We can,” Deborah said. “And we are.”
She turned to Cole. “Effective today, you’re on unpaid suspension pending termination. Turn in your badge.”
A security guard stepped closer, already holding a clipboard.
That shut him up.
“Turn in your badge.”
For a second, no one moved. Alyssa’s face drained of color. Cole looked like someone had pulled the floor out from under him.
I stepped toward Cole. “I’m going home. To our children.”
“We need to talk.”
“We will,” I said. “Through lawyers. You made a choice, and I’m done cleaning up after it. Don’t come back.”
He stood there, speechless. Alyssa just stared at him like she’d realized too late that she’d hitched her future to a man who couldn’t hold it together.
I walked away.
“I’m going home.”
**
At home, the kids were waiting for me. I crouched down and hugged them all in turn. Rose held onto me a little longer.
“Is Daddy coming home?”
“No, baby,” I said gently. “Not today.”
She frowned. “Tomorrow?”
I took a breath. “Maybe not for a while,” I said. “But I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Now I was finally choosing myself, and my kids.
