He Chose Her, I Left with My Daughter

"You'd better know when to stop!" Connor huffed. "I'm not gonna put up with your tantrums forever."

He stormed out, slamming the door so hard it rattled the whole house. I stood there quietly, then looked down and squatted to wipe up the wine mess with paper towels.

In long relationships, people threw around breakup threats all the time, but in our ten years, I never did that. I valued what we had and respected his feelings.

Even when things got tough, I wouldn't quit easily. But if I said I was leaving, I meant it for real.

After cleaning the broken glass, I printed the divorce papers and packed my stuff until morning. Evie Steele woke up at some point, seeing my big suitcase and tilting her head. "Mom, where are you going?"

I bent down and stroked her head. "Sweetie, I've got a job overseas. Want to come with me?"

"Wherever you go, I go." She nodded, then asked, "What about Dad?"

I gave a bitter smile. "He doesn't like us, so he won't come. We probably won't live with him anymore."

In his journal, he described me as: [Good for having kids and keeping house.]

To him, I was just a baby machine. Evie deserved his love, but he'd always been cold to us. If he'd shown even a little more care, I wouldn't have gone this far.

She went quiet, then lowered her head and mumbled, "I know you and Dad aren't happy. But he said I'm the kid with the most gold stars in class. He promised to take me to Disneyland and buy me pretty dresses. It's the first time he's promised something this fun. Can we wait till after? Please."

I hesitated at her hopeful look, tempted to tell her that Connor had probably forgotten. He was always like that, keeping promises to outsiders while bailing on us.

But I agreed in the end. While my faith in him had faded long ago, Evie craved more time with him. For her fake, I'd give him one last chance.

If he didn't cherish it, I would take Evie and leave for good. We'd never meet again.

...

At lunchtime, I set the food on the table just as the doorbell rang.

"That must be Dad!" Evie exclaimed, running to open the door.

Moments later, I heard Connor's voice. "Evie, say hi to Ashley."

Evie paused, not expecting him to bring a woman home, but she complied. "Hi, Ashley."