part 8
PART 8
The first car arrived for Lydia.
Of course it did.
Marianne had arranged it through the trust concierge before Caleb understood transportation could also obey someone else.
A black SUV pulled up at the marina entrance.
The driver stepped out and nodded to Lydia.
“Mrs. Ward?”
Lydia paused.
Soon, not Mrs. Ward.
But not yet.
She walked toward the car with one small suitcase.
Not the matching luggage Caleb insisted on buying for their “brand.”
Just her own cream leather overnight bag.
Caleb followed.
“You are not leaving like this.”
Lydia turned.
“This is exactly how I’m leaving.”
He lowered his voice.
“You will calm down by tonight.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
That sentence once would have worked.
It carried the assumption that her anger was weather.
That his betrayal was climate.
Permanent.
Unquestioned.
Something she would adjust around.
“No, Caleb.”
“I am not calming down into obedience anymore.”
Tessa stood near the luggage, arms folded around herself.
The smugness was gone.
“Did you ever plan to leave her?”
Caleb looked at her sharply.
“Not now.”
Tessa laughed.
It sounded almost broken.
“Of course.”
Lydia should not have cared.
But watching Tessa finally understand the role she had been playing was strangely unsatisfying.
Nobody won when a man used women as mirrors for himself.
Patricia approached Lydia next.
Her face was pale, but pride remained intact.
“You are making a mistake you will regret.”
Lydia nodded.
“Maybe.”
Patricia blinked.
Lydia continued.
“But it will be my mistake.”
“Not one I made to keep your son comfortable.”
For once, Patricia had no polished reply.
Robert lifted Lydia’s suitcase into the SUV despite Caleb’s glare.
“Take care of yourself,” he said quietly.
Lydia looked at him.
“I will.”
She got into the car.
Caleb grabbed the open door.
The driver stiffened.
Lydia did not.
She looked directly at her husband.
“You have until Monday to leave the condo.”
His hand dropped.
“The condo is mine.”
“No.”
“It is leased through Harborline.”
She closed the door.
Through the window, she saw his face change as another piece of the life he thought he owned vanished.
The SUV pulled away from the dock.
Behind her, the seaplane remained still on the water.
The island waited empty.
May you like
For the first time all day, Lydia smiled.
Read the full story 👉 Lydia left Caleb on the dock, but her final blow was telling him the condo he called his was also leased through her trust.
