“Before or after bringing him to our house?” Austin asked, and the question was worse than a shout because there was no escape from it.
Her father stood up abruptly and asked if she really brought that man into her husband’s home. Brianna jumped at the sound of his voice and whispered “Yes” while her father looked away in disgust.
“I called everyone this morning because I did not want to live inside a false narrative anymore,” Austin said to the room. “I am not going to sugarcoat what happened to protect an image that no longer exists.”
Brianna asked if he just wanted to humiliate her, and Austin took a long time to reply. “No, I wanted to find my wife asleep when I got home, and I wanted what we had to be real,” he said sadly.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope containing the divorce papers before leaving it next to the watch. He told her he was not going to bargain with tears or compete with late excuses because the marriage was over.
Austin picked up his keys and apologized to the guests for bringing them into the disaster. He walked toward the door and did not turn around as he heard Brianna’s ragged breathing and her mother’s sobs behind him.
He went down the steps and reached his car before he allowed himself to stop and look back at the house. He looked at the home where he had celebrated birthdays and planned a future that had been dead for months.
Finally, he cried for the version of Brianna he had loved and for the version of himself he was leaving behind. He dried his face and sat behind the wheel, feeling a first thread of peace because the truth was finally out in the light.
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