Chapter 12 #2
I needed to leave. Now. Before Sam came home. Before I had to face him and hear the words I already knew were coming.
I sat at the kitchen table with a pen and paper, my hands shaking as I tried to write a note that would spare us both the pain of that conversation.
Dear Sam,
No. Too formal.
Sam,
Jenna came to see me today.
I crumpled the paper and started again.
Sam,
I know what you want to tell me this afternoon. I’m making this easier for all of us.
I understand that being a father has to come first. I understand that Leo needs stability and your complete attention. I understand that the life we were building together isn’t possible anymore.
I’ll be gone for a few days. Please be moved out by the time I get back. I’ll call when I’m ready to talk about logistics - our joint bank account, bills, etc.
Take care of yourself. Take care of Leo.
Chloe
I read it twice, then left it on the table where Sam would see it when he got home.
Now I just had to pack and get out before he came home. Before I had to face him and hear the truth I already knew.
I moved on autopilot. Grabbed a duffel bag from the closet. Threw in clothes without looking at what I was taking – jeans, t-shirts, whatever my hands found first. Toiletries from the bathroom. My laptop. A charger. A couple of books.
I didn’t know where I was going. Didn’t care. I just knew I had to leave.
This was exactly what I did – what I’d learned to do. When faced with betrayal, when confronted with evidence that the man I loved had been living a secret life, I didn’t stay and fight. I ran.
Sean had taught me that fighting for someone who didn’t want you was just another form of humiliation. Better to leave with whatever dignity remained than to beg someone to choose you over their lies.
I was zipping up my duffel bag when my cell rang.
Harper’s name flashed on the screen. I stared at it, my hand hovering over the decline button.
I couldn’t handle that conversation right now.
Not when I was barely holding myself together, not when I needed to get out before Sam came home, not when every word Jenna had said was still echoing in my head.
But Harper was also my friend.
I answered on the fourth ring. “Hi Harper.”
“Chloe. Thank God.” Harper’s relief was palpable through the phone. “Where are you? Sarah just called me—”
“I’m sorry about Emma’s party. I’ll come over to see her soon, I promise. I have to go, Harper—”
“Chloe, wait. Please.” Harper’s voice was urgent. “Sarah called me really worried. She said a woman came to the clinic with a little boy, asked to see you privately, and when you came out of your office afterwards, you looked devastated. Are you alright?”
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely grip the phone. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What could I even say?
“Chloe? Are you still there? Is Sam there? Can I talk to him?”
“No, Sean isn’t here—” I stopped, horror washing over me. “Sam. I meant Sam. Sam isn’t here.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. When Harper spoke again, her voice was very gentle. “Chloe, sweetheart, take a breath. You just called Sam by your ex’s name.”
“I know. I know I did. I have to go—”
“Chloe, please, just slow down for a second. I don’t know what happened, but I know Sam loves you—”
“Did you know?” The words came out harsh, accusatory. “Did you know about Leo?”
“Chloe—”
“Sam has a son, Harper. A little boy he never told me about. A son!” My voice was rising, cracking.
“I know this must be really hard, but if you could just—”
“His baby mama came to see me today. That’s the woman Sarah was talking about.
” I was pacing now, phone clenched in my shaking hand.
“She told me everything. How Sean’s—” I caught myself.
“How Sam’s been trying to figure out how to let me down gently.
How Leo needs stability and Sam’s complete attention—”
“Chloe, listen to me—”
“She said Sean’s moving out this weekend.” The words tumbled out faster, more frantic. “Moving in with them. He’s choosing his family, Harper, and I—”
“Stop.” Harper’s voice was firm, almost sharp. “Chloe, stop and listen to me for one second. You just said Sean again.”
Had I? I couldn’t even remember. Everything was bleeding together — Sean’s betrayal, that bitch of an ex-best friend Kaitlyn, Sam, Jenna’s pitying smile. And that gorgeous little boy with the crooked smile.
“Chloe, listen to me very carefully.” Harper’s tone was firm now, almost commanding. “I don’t know what Jenna told you, but I do know Sam. The idea that he would choose to end things with you—”
“You weren’t there.” I was still pacing the bedroom, phone clenched in my hand.
“Why would Sam send her to tell you he’s leaving instead of telling you himself?”
“I don’t know! Maybe because he’s a coward. Maybe because he didn’t want to see my face when he—”
“That’s not Sam,” Harper said firmly. “That’s Sean. Sean was the coward who cheated on you. Sam is not him.”
“How do you know?” My voice broke. “How do you know he’s not just better at hiding it? Sean hid it for months, Harper. Months. And I had no idea.”
“Chloe, you need to take a breath and think about this clearly—”
“I can’t think clearly! That’s the problem!” I was crying now, hot tears streaming down my face. “Every time I try to think, all I can see is Sean’s messages to Kaitlyn. All I can hear is Jenna telling me I’m not good enough for Sam’s son.”
“Chloe, listen to me. When you found out about Sean, what did you do?”
I knew where she was going with this. “I ran. I left.”
“Exactly. And I’m not saying that was wrong - you needed to get away from that situation. But this isn’t that situation, Chloe. Sam isn’t Sean.”
“You don’t know that—”
“I do know that,” Harper said firmly. “Because four years ago, Sam was the one who told Jack that he was destroying our marriage. Sam knows how badly this kind of thing can go. He wouldn’t deliberately—”
“Then why did he do it?” My voice cracked. “Why would he keep this from me if he knew how damaging it could be?”
“I don’t know. But I do know that you need to sit down and talk to Sam before you make any decisions. Hear what he has to say.”
“Sam has been distant,” I said, my voice shaking. “He’s been lying about where he is, hiding things from me.”
“He’s an idiot,” Harper said. “I’m not saying he handled this right. But there’s a difference between panicking and making mistakes, and deliberately planning to leave you. You need to talk to-.”
“Talk!” I cut her off. “His baby mama is telling me he’s moving in with them. She came to my clinic to tell me herself because Sam was too chicken. What is there to talk about?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “She came to you.” Harper’s voice was very careful now. “Why would she do that? Why would she come to your clinic to tell you Sam is leaving you? Without Sam present?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. I hadn’t thought about it that way.
“Just… sit down and talk to Sam,” Harper said gently. “Please. Before you do anything else. Talk to him.”
“I can’t.”
“Chloe, where are you right now? Are you home?”
I looked at the duffel bag on the bed, already packed. My eyes found the clock on the nightstand. 12:05 PM. Sam would be leaving the bar any minute now. He’d be home by 12:25.
If I told Harper the truth — that I was leaving — she’d call Jack. They’d both race over here, try to stop me. And then Sam would come home and break my heart while they all watched.
I couldn’t do that. I needed to get out. Now. “Yes,” I heard myself say, my voice steadier than I felt. “I’m home. Waiting for Sam.”
“You’re going to talk to him?”
I took a breath. Then another. Forced myself to sound calmer. “Yes. Okay. I’ll… I’ll hear him out.”
“Chloe—”
“You’re right. I need to talk to him.” The lies came easier now. “He should be home any minute. We’ll talk.”
“Promise me you’ll actually listen to what he has to say.”
“I promise.” Another lie. “I have to go, Harper.”
“Call me later, okay? Let me know you’re alright.”
“I will. Thank you.” I hung up before she could say anything else. I stood there, phone still in my shaking hand, Harper’s voice still echoing in my head.
Sam isn’t Sean.
But what if he was?
I powered off my phone and grabbed my duffel bag.
Harper had tried. She’d said all the right things, made all the right arguments. But she hadn’t been there when Sean left. She hadn’t felt what I felt — the humiliation, the betrayal, the sickening realization that I’d been a fool.
I couldn’t survive that. Not again. I wouldn’t.
I threw the duffel bag in my truck, left the note on the kitchen table where Sam would see it, and drove. I didn’t know where I was going. Away. Just away.