Chapter 17 - THE COUNTERATTACKDerek did something I did not expect.
He stopped fighting the paternity issue.
His attorney formally acknowledged the prenatal test.
He corrected his family.
He sent a written message to several people:
The baby is biologically mine. My earlier statements about Sarah’s fidelity were wrong and unfair.
Good.
Then Jessica’s attorney pushed back.
She argued Derek was rewriting their relationship to save his marriage and reputation.
She produced messages from Derek.
Some hurt.
One from April:
I think my marriage has been over for months and neither of us will say it.
Another:
When I’m with you I don’t feel like every conversation is about loss.
I read that sentence five times.
Rachel said:
“You don’t have to read every private message.”
“I do.”
“No. You want to.”
She was right.
Pain can become compulsive evidence review.
Jessica had not invented Derek’s dissatisfaction.
He had confided in her.
Encouraged intimacy.
After the kiss, he continued messaging her.
Not sexually explicit.
Emotionally intimate.
Then he came home and slept with me without telling me any of it.
Again:
Complexity did not make responsibility equal.
Jessica exploited.
May you like
Derek invited.
I was excluded.
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