PART 8: 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
Brenda and I met in a conference room at Priya’s office.
The room had glass walls, a long oak table, and a view of the courthouse square. Priya sat at the far end, close enough to intervene but distant enough to let us speak.
Brenda arrived alone.
She did not carry the black luxury bag.
Without the red coat, perfect hair, and sharp smile, she looked smaller than I remembered. There were shadows beneath her eyes. Her nails were no longer polished.
For several seconds, we simply looked at each other.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” she said.
“That’s good.”
Her face tightened, but she nodded.
“What I said at the hospital was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“I thought—”
She stopped.
“What?” I asked. “You thought I deserved it?”
“I thought you knew about us.”
“Would that have made those words acceptable?”
“No.”
Her answer was quiet.
Priya remained still at the end of the table.
Brenda placed a folder in front of her.
“Kenneth told me you had been separated privately for almost a year. He said you were staying together until the babies were born because of the publicity around his business.”
“What publicity?”
“He said investors preferred stability.”
I almost laughed.
Kenneth’s consulting company had fewer than twenty employees. He spoke about investors as though financial newspapers followed our marriage.
“He told me you had agreed to the house transfer,” Brenda continued. “He said it was part of the settlement.”
“You stood beside him while he called me ugly.”
“I know.”
“You smiled.”
Her gaze dropped.
“I wanted to believe he had chosen me because I was different from you. Seeing you there made it impossible to pretend I had won something admirable.”
The honesty did not erase what she had done.
But it changed the shape of the room.
Brenda opened the folder.
Inside were bank statements, emails, and copies of internal company records.
May you like
“Sable Consulting is mine,” she said.
My stomach tightened.
