Chapter 38
Audrey
Monday morning arrived with a heavy, overcast sky.
Audrey sat at her desk, staring blindly at the budget reports Elena had dropped off an hour ago. She hadn't processed a single number on the page. Her mind was entirely consumed by the Tuesday afternoon therapy session looming on her calendar.
The weekend had been grueling. The quiet in the house, with Lily away at Miranda's, had given her entirely too much room to think, to cry, and to let the horrific, taunting sounds of that audio file loop in her mind. But eventually, the tears had run out.
By Sunday night, the raw, bleeding wound Emily had tried to rip back open had finally started to close.
The shock had faded, leaving behind a profound clarity.
Audrey had made her decision about the recording, and she knew exactly what it meant for the rapidly approaching end of their ninety-day stipulation.
∞∞∞
That evening, back at the house, Audrey stood leaning quietly against the doorframe of Lily’s bedroom.
"Look, Dad! I drew a picture of the butterfly kite," Lily said proudly, holding up a piece of construction paper to the screen of the tablet propped on her nightstand.
Simon’s face filled the screen. He looked terrible—pale, with deep, dark circles under his eyes that told Audrey he probably hadn't slept a wink all weekend. Yet, his smile for their daughter was bright and entirely genuine.
"That is beautiful, bug," Simon's voice carried through the small speaker. "You got the colors exactly right."
Audrey watched him from afar. He had kept his word.
He hadn't texted, hadn't called, and hadn't shown up at the door to plead his case.
He had respected her boundary, even though she knew the silence was likely tearing him apart.
Watching him gently coax Lily through her bedtime routine, his patience never wavering despite his obvious exhaustion, Audrey felt a quiet, steadying calm wash over her.
She turned away before the call ended, walking down the hall with her decision firmly locked in her heart.
∞∞∞
Tuesday afternoon, the tension in Dr. Thorne’s office was suffocating.
Simon sat stiffly on the edge of the velvet sofa, his hands clasped so tightly together his knuckles were white. He looked terrified. He hadn't spoken a word since they walked in, his dark eyes locked onto Audrey, waiting for the executioner's axe to fall.
Audrey sat comfortably in her usual armchair. She took a slow, deep breath.
"I spent the entire weekend thinking about the email," Audrey began, her voice steady and remarkably clear.
Simon flinched slightly, but he didn't look away. He just braced himself.
"And I have made a decision about what it means for the end of these ninety days," she continued. She saw the sheer, unadulterated panic flash across Simon’s face. "But before I tell you what that decision is, there is something else we need to do first."
Dr. Thorne tilted his head, his pen pausing over his notepad. "What is that, Audrey?"
Audrey shifted her gaze directly to Simon, her expression entirely uncompromising.
"We need to talk about Nathaniel."
Simon’s breath hitched. The faint bit of color that had been in his cheeks drained away completely.
"We have spent the last few weeks digging through the painful reality of your affair," Audrey said, her tone holding no malice, just a firm, undeniable demand for complete transparency.
"But we have entirely avoided the subject of Nate.
You have tip-toed around it, and I haven't brought him up.
But if we are going to face the truth and actually move forward, we have to face all of it. "
She leaned forward, holding Simon's devastated gaze.
"We need to talk about him right now, Simon. Before anything else happens."
A heavy, fraught silence settled over the room. Simon swallowed hard, his throat working convulsively as he stared at the woman he loved, finally forced to confront the man who had stepped in to hold her when he had walked away.