Chapter 11 - Lauren Finally Explained Why She Went Further Than Ethan Asked
Lauren’s deposition happened months later.
I did not attend.
I read it.
The question everyone wanted answered was simple:
Why create the custody draft without Ethan asking?
Her response unfolded slowly.
She believed Ethan loved her.
He had told her he did.
She believed the marriage would end.
He had told her he wanted out.
But he kept hesitating.
Every time he talked about leaving, he mentioned the children.
“I can’t blow up their home.”
“I won’t become a weekend dad.”
“Madeline will never forgive me.”
Lauren started seeing us—the children and me—as the force keeping Ethan from choosing her.
Then I became pregnant.
That terrified her.
A new baby meant another emotional tie.
Another reason Ethan might stay.
So she started researching.
Initially, according to her, she wanted to know “what custody would look like.”
Then she became convinced my difficult pregnancy gave Ethan an advantage.
She contacted a lawyer.
Exaggerated.
Selected moments.
Omitted context.
Had a draft prepared.
Her plan was to show it to Ethan after he finally told me about the affair.
“I thought if he saw there was a path to keeping the children, he wouldn’t be afraid to leave.”
That sentence contained the central distortion.
She told herself she was helping Ethan remain a father.
To do that, she was willing to turn me into an unsafe mother on paper.
May you like
She did not think of herself as stealing children.
Almost nobody sees themselves through the language that best describes the harm they are causing.
