Chapter 3 - The Walls Close In
Monday morning arrived with a cold,
relentless rain,
washing the dust from the Boise streets.
I sat in my car outside our home,
the house I had spent years decorating with love and care.
I watched Liam pull into the driveway,
his peach shirt now wrinkled and stained with sweat.
He looked like a man who hadn't slept,
a man who had spent the night trying to fix a sinking ship.
I stepped out of the car,
the wind whipping my hair across my face,
and waited for him to see me.
He froze,
his hand on the car door,
his eyes darting around as if looking for an escape.
"Adeline,"
he croaked,
his voice thin and brittle.
"Please,
we need to talk,
privately."
"There is nothing left to say,
Liam,"
I replied,
my voice steady and cold.
"I’ve already spoken to Elias."
The mention of the lawyer made him flinch,
the color leaving his face once again.
"I did it for us,"
he lied,
the words coming out in a desperate rush.
"I wanted a child,
I thought you were hurting,
I thought this would make everything right."
"You stole my money to pay for a baby with my cousin,"
I said,
stepping closer until I could smell the stale perfume on him.
"You lied to me about my own body,
making me believe I was a failure as a woman."
"No,
it wasn't like that,"
he stammered,
backing away.
"Abigail was just... she was there,
she understood the pressure."
"She’s a thief,
just like you,"
I spat.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a stack of legal documents.
"These are the papers for the house,"
I told him,
dropping them on the hood of his car.
"It’s in my name,
bought with my father’s money,
and you have exactly one hour to get out."
"You can't do that,"
he shouted,
his facade of a gentleman finally cracking.
"I have rights! We’re married!"
"Not for long,"
I countered.
"And as for your rights,
you might want to check the clause about marital fraud."
I watched him scramble for the papers,
his hands shaking as he read the bold print.
The locks had already been changed,
and a security team was waiting at the end of the block.
I didn't wait for his response,
I simply walked past him,
entering the house that was no longer a home.
Inside,
the air felt stagnant,
filled with the ghosts of the lies we had lived.
I went to the guest house,
where Abigail had lived for a year,
and found it empty.
She had fled,
likely back to the estate,
hoping Aunt Maggie could protect her.
But Aunt Maggie was currently being served with a lawsuit,
one that would freeze every asset she owned.
I sat at the kitchen table,
the same table where we had eaten dinner as a family,
and waited.
My phone began to buzz,
a frantic stream of texts and calls from the family.
"Adeline, how could you?"
"Think of the baby!"
"We can settle this quietly!"
I ignored them all,
blocking every number until there was only silence.
I felt a strange sense of peace,
watching the rain fall against the windowpane.
The estate in Boise,
the one where the baptism took place,
wasn't just a random location.
It was the property Liam had claimed was a corporate investment.
In reality,
it was the "nest" he had built for his secret family,
using my dividends to pay the mortgage.
I called the real estate agent,
a woman who knew my father well,
and gave her the instructions.
"List it,"
I said.
"Everything inside goes to auction,
except for the baby’s clothes."
"Those,"
I paused,
my heart softening for a split second,
"send those to the local shelter."
Even in my anger,
I couldn't punish the child for the sins of the parents.
But for Liam and Abigail,
the shelter of my wealth was gone.
By noon,
Liam was standing on the sidewalk,
holding two suitcases and a box of his designer watches.
He looked small,
pathetic,
standing in the rain without an umbrella.
He looked up at the window,
hoping for a sign of weakness,
for the "soft" Adeline he thought he could control.
I closed the curtains,
shutting him out of my sight,
and my life.
The walls were closing in on them,
May you like
and for the first time,
I was the one holding the keys.
