**Diary Entry A Chapter Closed**
“Come on, Lucy, nothing truly awful happened! Men slip up sometimesthey get carried away, dont know when to stop. Be the bigger person. Are you really going to hand your husband over to some girl? Shell think shes won! Fight for your family!” My mother-in-laws words hung in the air, desperate and grating.
On Saturday morning, I dropped our son, Thomas, at my parents place. Wed agreed hed stay with them for a while.
Back home, I pulled cardboard boxes from the loft and began packing. Starting in Thomass room, I folded clothes, packed toys and books, sealed each box with tape, and labelled them. Soon, only the furniture remainedthings I wouldnt take with me.
Around noon, my phone rang. Mother-in-law again.
“Hello, Margaret.”
“Good afternoon, Lucy. Jeremy told me everything. I know youre hurt, but must you be so hasty? Take time to cool off, think it through. Is destroying the family really the answer?”
“Im not destroying anything. Jeremy did that,” I replied flatly.
“Lucy, Im not excusing him! But couldnt you forgive him this once?”
“Once?” I scoffed. “Your sons been seeing his colleague for six months, lying to me. And you say forgive? No.”
“Please, just reconsider. Youre taking Thomas away from his father. Jeremy adores him!”
“Margaret, Jeremy can see Thomas whenever he likes. I wont stop him. But I wont stay married to him either. Now, if youll excuse me, Im busy packing.”
I taped the last two boxes, then moved to the bedroom to fill suitcases with my clothes.
An hour later, Margaret appeared at the door, convinced she could persuade me face-to-face. The conversation looped back:
“Lucy, really, its not the end of the world! Men strayit happens.”
“Be wise. Dont let some girl think shes bested you! Fight for your marriage!”
“Margaret, Jeremy isnt some trophy to fight over. Should I challenge this Emma to a duel? A boxing match? Shes irrelevant. If it wasnt her, itd be someone else.”
She leaned in. “Ill tell you a secretJeremys father, Robert, had his indiscretions too. But I was wiser than you. I saved our marriage. Thirty-five years together now. Our coral anniversarys next year.”
“And how, exactly, did you manage that?” I asked dryly.
“I didnt make scenes. I was sweeter, cooked his favourites, took interest in his work, improved myselfnew haircut, lost weight, greeted him with smiles. Sometimes I *knew* hed just come from *her*, and all I wanted was to smash a frying pan over his head. But I smiled instead. And I kept my husband. My son grew up with his father, and now Thomas has a grandfather.”
“Youre remarkable, Margaret. I couldnt do that. I have this unfortunate thing called self-respect. What youre suggesting is like asking me to eat from a rubbish bin.”
She flushed, stood abruptly, and stormed out without another word.
I kept packing. This wasnt overJeremy and Margaret would make this harder. Thats why I needed to leave quickly.
The next day, Dad helped me load the boxes and suitcases into a van. On the way, I asked him to stop at Margarets to drop off the keys.
“You wont believe it,” I told my friend Sarah the next day. “Yesterday, Margaret spent an hour begging me to forgive Jeremys little slip and not file for divorce.”
“What was her reasoning?” Sarah asked.
“The usual: Youre depriving Thomas of his father, All men cheat, Women must be wiser. Then she shared how *she* won her husband back.”
“How?”
“I wont repeat it. Trust me, its appalling. Youd never do it.”
“Have you filed?”
“Yes, last Friday.”
“Finally free of that Casanova. It was painful watching that two-timing git,” Sarah muttered.
“Painful to watch? You *knew* about him and Emma?” I bristled.
“Not for certain, but I suspected,” she admitted guiltily.
“And you didnt tell me? I thought we were friends.” I stood to leave.
“Wait!” Sarah caught my arm. “Listen. I had no proof. I just saw what you did and drew different conclusions. Remember the office party? Emma hanging off Jeremy? How shed volunteer for every business trip with him? Im in HRI noticed how shed suddenly replace whoever was meant to go with him. I suspected, but without proof, I couldnt risk hurting you over a hunch.”
“You couldve hinted.”
“And if Id been wrong? Youd have thought I was stirring trouble. Remember Sophie Carter? She told a friend shed seen her husband with another womaneven showed a photo of them hugging. The couple reconciled, but Sophie was branded a jealous troublemaker. She quit the company. So dont be cross. If Id had solid proof, Id have told you. Now, where will you live?”
“The flats in Margarets name, so Thomas and I are at Mum and Dads. But well move into Nans old place next weektenants left last month. Its only two bedrooms, but enough for us. Sorting nursery tooMums friends helping transfer him to one nearby. Once divorced, Ill apply for child support. Thats it.”
“Will Jeremy agree?”
“He says he doesnt want divorce, that hes learned his lesson. Once was enough for me. He begged me not to file for supportpromised hed pay voluntarily.”
“And you said?”
“No. I dont want to see him again. Itll be official. He threatened to take Thomas: My flats better, my salarys higher. I didnt arguejust counted his business trips last year. Eight. Saved it for court. If he tries for custody, Ill ask wholl care for Thomas when hes away. Ive got a job, a home. Hell lose.”
Jeremy did file for custody, claiming I couldnt provide for Thomas. Margaret even accused me of hiding him:
“She took him from nursery! We thought they were at her parents, but they vanished after a week. Where is she keeping him? Some shady place?”
I clarified: we lived in my two-bed flat, Thomas attended the local nursery, and Jeremys frequent travel made him an unfit primary carer. They lost.
I changed jobs to avoid Jeremy. Soon after, Sarah brought news:
“Emma resigned. Left town.”
“Why?”
“The office women made life unbearable. She stuck around a month, realised the game was up, and bolted for London. So your ex is alone now.”
“Doesnt trouble me,” I said.
And it didnt. Because no matter how many times life pushes you toward a poisoned well, you dont have to drink from it.
