Chapter 2: She Already Knew
She didn't leave that night.
I heard her on the phone in the bedroom, her voice low and sharp.
I couldn't make out the words, but I recognized the tone — the kind that meant she was building a case.
By morning, she was sitting at the kitchen table like nothing had happened.
"I think we both said things we didn't mean," she said.
I poured Caleb's cereal and didn't answer.
"You're really going to throw away everything we have over a custody weekend?"
I set the bowl in front of Caleb and looked at her.
"It wasn't a custody weekend.
It was a family vacation.
And he's my family."
She smiled — not warmly.
"He has a mother, you know.
He's not your only responsibility."
Caleb kept his eyes down on his bowl.
I was about to respond when my phone buzzed on the counter.
I glanced at the screen.
It was a message from a number I didn't recognize.
*You need to know what she said about Caleb before you came home yesterday.*
I looked up at Vanessa.
She was watching me read it.
She didn't ask who it was from.
She already knew.
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What was in that message — and who sent it?
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What Caleb overheard before that kitchen moment is the part that changes everything.
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