Chapter 17
Allen
Two days .
It had been two days since Corinne saw me with Natasha.
Two days of silence.
Two days of sitting with the consequences.
Two days of imagining my children’s faces, and knowing I had turned their lives into collateral damage.
I hadn’t gone home. Not because I didn’t want to—God, I did—but because I didn’t know how to walk through that door and face what I’d done.
But now, I had to.
I pulled into the driveway. The house—our house—looked different now. Smaller. Colder. Like it was bracing itself against me.
I reached the porch and barely lifted my hand to knock before the door burst open—
"Daddy!"
Kyle flew into me, his little arms wrapping around my legs with the kind of trust I no longer deserved. I bent and scooped him up, holding him tightly as his small hands tangled in the collar of my coat.
"I missed you so much," he mumbled into my neck.
I squeezed my eyes shut. "I missed you too, buddy. So, so much."
"Mommy cried a lot," he added softly. "Even Grandma couldn’t make her stop."
My chest caved in.
"Where were you?" he asked.
I didn’t have an answer he could understand. So I just whispered, "Daddy had to think about some things. But I’m here now."
Before he could ask more questions, a piercing wail rang through the house—Astrid.
Kyle scrambled down, and I rushed inside.
Corinne was on the couch, hunched over, her arms curled around our baby girl. Her mother sat beside her, whispering something I couldn’t hear. Corinne’s face was pale, her lips cracked, her eyes hollow from crying. Astrid wailed in her arms, red-faced and inconsolable.
The moment Corinne saw me, her whole body recoiled like she’d been struck.
"Get out."
Her voice was quiet, but sharp. Deadly.
I took a step forward. "Corinne, please—"
"GET OUT!" she screamed.
And then I was on the floor.
The world spun sideways as pain exploded in my jaw. I tasted blood. I barely saw the blur of movement before Jake’s fist landed again—this time in my ribs.
"You sick bastard!" Jake snarled, looming over me.
"Jake, stop!" Noah barked, grabbing him from behind. "You’ll kill him."
"Good!" Jake yelled. "Let him rot for what he did!"
I wiped my mouth, feeling the sting of a split lip.
My parents stood frozen in the doorway—my mother’s hand covered her mouth, and my father just looked… disappointed. Like he was watching a stranger.
And then—Natasha appeared.
She paused in the hallway, pale, eyes rimmed red. Her gaze wasn’t on me.
She was staring straight at Noah.
And Noah… was staring back, like he’d seen a ghost.
Corinne noticed. She turned her head, slow and deliberate, and followed Natasha’s line of sight.
Her trembling voice cut through the tension. "Why are you looking at Noah like that?"
Neither of them answered.
"Noah," Corinne pressed, her voice rising. "Do you know her?"
Noah’s jaw tightened, his fists clenched.
Natasha finally spoke. "It was a long time ago."
Corinne blinked. "What was?"
Noah swallowed hard. "She and I… we used to see each other. Before she and Allen."
Corinne’s face cracked. "So this has all been one big game to you? Both of you?"
"No!" Natasha cried. "I didn’t know Allen when I knew Noah. It wasn’t like that."
"You mean it didn’t start that way," Corinne snapped.
"Corinne," I started, stepping forward.
"Don’t you dare say my name!" she spat. "You don't get to say my name like we're equals. Like you didn't burn everything down!"
I forced the words out. "I’m filing for divorce."
The room froze.
"And I’m going for full custody of Kyle and Astrid."
A cold silence followed.
Corinne’s face went blank. Like all her pain had collapsed inward. "You’re going to take my children? After this?"
"You’re not well," I said. "You haven’t been for a while. You’re struggling, and they need stability."
She stood slowly, placing Astrid in her mother’s arms. Her voice was a razor’s edge. "Do not. Ever. Use my pain against me."
"I’m not—"
"Yes, you are!" she shouted, voice cracking. "You cheated, Allen. You lied, for how long!. You turned me into a shell of myself, and now you're blaming me for not being whole?"
I faltered. "I’m trying to protect the kids."
"No," Jake hissed. "You’re trying to protect yourself. Your guilt. Your image."
Natasha’s voice wavered. "Allen, maybe this isn’t the way—"
"Shut up," Corinne snapped, turning to her. "How long?"
Natasha flinched.
"How long have you been screwing my husband?"
"...Two years."
The air was sucked from the room.
My mother gasped. My father looked away. Jake looked like he might throw up.
Corinne just... crumbled. Her knees buckled, and it was Noah who caught her.
She sobbed into his shoulder, shaking violently. "Two years… they were my years..."
Her father stood then, cold and composed, but his eyes burning. "Get out. Both of you."
"I’m still their father—" I started.
"Outside this house, you can be whatever you want. But under this roof? You are nothing."
Jake grabbed my arm, shoving me toward the door.
Natasha followed behind, quietly crying.
At the threshold, I turned, desperate. "Corinne, I didn’t mean to hurt you like this."
She looked up—her eyes raw and ruined. "Then why did you keep doing it?"
I had no answer.
The door slammed shut.
Behind me, Natasha was shaking. "What now?" she whispered.
I didn’t respond.
Because I didn’t know.
Inside, I could still hear the sound of my children. My wife’s cries. My family's silence.
I had burned down my world. And I was standing in the ashes.