PART 4: After I gave birth to our triplets, my husband walked into my hospital room with his mistress at his side, proudly carrying a luxury bag. 14009
My father’s expression held no triumph.
“That does not make the forged deed valid.”
The day I left the hospital, my parents drove me to the house.
Priya had advised me not to go alone. The babies remained in the car with my mother while my father and I walked to the front door.
My key no longer worked.
I tried it twice before noticing the new lock.
For five years, the pale blue house on Alder Street had been the center of my life. I had chosen the curtains. I had painted the kitchen cabinets myself. I had planted lavender along the front path, although Kenneth complained that bees gathered near it in summer.
Now I stood on the porch like a stranger.
My father rang the bell.
No one answered.
Priya had already contacted Kenneth’s attorney, and we had been given a two-hour window to collect personal belongings. A property manager arrived ten minutes later with a key.
“I was told Ms. Sawyer owns the residence,” he said uncomfortably.
“The ownership is disputed,” my father replied.
The manager glanced at the infant seats in the car and lowered his eyes.
Inside, the house smelled different.
Brenda’s perfume lingered in the hallway.
A pair of red shoes stood beneath the console table. Her coat hung on the hook where I used to leave my cardigan. On the kitchen counter sat a vase of white roses and an envelope addressed to Brenda Sawyer at my address.
Kenneth had not merely transferred the house.
He had moved her into my life before I had even given birth.
I walked upstairs slowly.
The nursery door was open.
Three cribs stood against the wall beneath wooden stars I had painted by hand. The shelves were filled with folded blankets, bottles, diapers, and tiny clothes arranged by size.
Nothing had been disturbed.
That somehow hurt more.
Kenneth had not destroyed the nursery. He had simply decided the babies and I would never use it.
My father waited in the doorway.
May you like
“I can have movers collect everything,” he said.
“I only want the blue box.”
