Chapter 3 - Lauren Had Been Collecting My Worst Moments
The petition did not come from nowhere.
It came from months of observation.
That was what made it so frightening.
Lauren knew our family long before I knew she was sleeping with my husband.
She had worked with Ethan on a luxury hospitality project.
At first, she came to dinners as a colleague.
Then she became the woman who somehow remained after everyone else left.
She knew my pregnancy had been difficult.
She knew I had been placed on modified bed rest for two weeks after a bleeding scare.
She knew I cried at a pediatric appointment when my son fractured his wrist.
She knew I forgot one school pickup because Ethan changed the schedule without telling me.
She knew I once called my father from the grocery-store parking lot because I felt dizzy and was afraid to drive.
Ordinary fragments.
Pregnancy.
Parenthood.
Stress.
Taken together honestly, they meant very little.
Taken out of context, they could be shaped into a story.
The draft Dad found listed examples.
Mother demonstrates emotional volatility.
That referred to me crying after learning my unborn baby might need early delivery.
Mother has difficulty maintaining routine responsibilities.
That referred to the pickup Ethan changed.
Mother relies heavily on extended family for household management.
Dad had stayed with us for four days while Ethan traveled.
Mother exhibits physical limitations incompatible with sole supervision of three children.
I was eight months pregnant.
The petition turned pregnancy into incompetence.
Then I saw the name attached to the notes.
Not as attorney.
Not as petitioner.
As supporting witness information supplied by Lauren Blake.
My husband’s mistress had been building a custody narrative against me while sitting at my dinner table.
May you like
And Ethan had been feeding her the raw material without even realizing what she intended to do with it.
Or so he claimed.
