On a regular afternoon drive from preschool, Tess sat in the backseat—barefoot, snack-stained—and stared out the window. Then she quietly said, “You’re the bad guy, according to Mom Lizzie. She’s a good mother.” I gripped the wheel tighter, hiding my shock. Later, I reviewed footage from the nanny cam I’d set up months ago. There they were—Daniel and Lizzie, close on my couch. He kissed her. It hurt, but I wasn’t surprised.
I printed the screenshots and called a lawyer. Two days later, Daniel got the envelope. He called with excuses. I hung up and blocked him. The divorce was quiet—no custody battle, no yelling. Painful, yes, but I let him go. And I let Tess love them both, even if it broke my heart.
One evening at the beach, Tess looked up at me and said, “Sometimes I miss them. But I think I love you the most.” I cried—not in anger, but from the need to survive. Later, Lizzie invited me to a birthday party she planned for Tess. I went for my daughter. When Lizzie told me she loved Tess like her own, I asked, “Then why did she think I was the bad guy?” She had no answer. I didn’t need one.
That night, Tess curled beside me holding a postcard of the beach. “Did you cry after I fell asleep?” she asked. “Yes.” “Happy or sad?” “Both,” I said. Now a photo of us—barefoot, windblown, together—sits on our mantle. I stayed standing. And in the end, my daughter ran to me first.