I tapped "like" without thinking, then immediately took it back.
Sure enough, the next second Leona's message popped up.
Don't get the wrong idea.
There's nothing going on between me and Nigel.
I didn't bother replying.
After I got Zachery to sleep, I sat motionless on the bed until dawn.
When the clock hit six, I finally picked up my phone and called my father.
"Dad..."
My voice cracked the moment the word left my mouth.
All the hurt, all the grief, came flooding out. I couldn't stop crying.
On the other end, Dad panicked, asking me over and over what was wrong.
I sniffled and steadied my breathing. "Dad, I want to come home."
He didn't ask a single question. All he said was, "Okay."
"Mom and I are coming to get you."
I broke down all over again.
It wasn't long before I received the divorce agreement Dad had drafted. I forwarded it to Nigel without a second thought.
He didn't respond.
His parents beat the message home.
"Mom, Dad, you're—"
"You want to divorce Nigel?"
They cut me off before I could finish, practically tripping over themselves to speak.
"Lorraine, sweetheart, tell me why you want a divorce," Joan Delgado said.
"If Nigel's really in the wrong, I won't take his side. I promise."
She took my hands and sat me down, her voice dripping with concern.
Every word out of her mouth circled back to the same point: divorce would only hurt me. I shouldn't act on impulse.
"You're a young woman who married so far from home. If you divorce, where will you even go?"
The same sentiment, dressed up in different words.
I'd heard it before.
I pulled my hands free. "Why wouldn't I have somewhere to go? Getting married doesn't mean I stopped having a family."
Percival Delgado and Joan exchanged a look.
"That's not what she meant," Percival said.
"She feels bad for you, coming all this way just to be treated like this."
"Lorraine, honey, couples fight. You make up. You don't file for divorce over one bad dinner!"
Joan smacked him on the shoulder, a silent warning to shut up.
That was when it clicked. They hadn't come for me. They'd come to do Nigel's talking for him.
"And what about the baby?" Percival pressed. "If you divorce, what happens to him?"
"You really want him growing up with a stepmother?"
I looked at the two of them, their faces arranged in practiced concern, and felt something go cold inside me.
"The baby comes with me."
"And this divorce is happening."