Chapter 25 - Emma’s decision
Mom filed for divorce fourteen months after the kitchen incident.
Not immediately.
She tried counseling first.
Michael attended.
He apologized for frightening her.
Then said:
“I was trying to protect you from Amanda taking over.”
Mom ended the session.
The therapist asked why.
She said:
“Because he still thinks I was an object two stronger people were fighting over.”
Exactly.
Mom did not divorce him because I demanded it.
I never did.
That distinction mattered to her.
Property division took time.
The house had premarital origins but decades of marital contribution.
Lawyers handled it.
No cinematic outcome where Michael left with a suitcase and nothing else.
Mom kept the house after financial offsets and settlement.
Michael retained retirement assets and other property.
The disputed power of attorney was never signed.
The deed remained Emma’s.
Eventually she sold the house anyway.
That surprised everyone.
“Why fight to keep it?” Tyler asked.
Mom said:
“I fought to decide.”
May you like
Then she chose differently.
That sentence became one of my favorites.
