After being reborn, I make up my mind to stop chasing after my husband and daughter

Chapter 11

Yvonne froze. It was the first time she’d ever seen Jared and me fight. Before, whenever we argued, I always gave in first to keep the peace. But today was different. I didn’t apologize or back down.

“Daddy, Mommy, please stop.” Yvonne burst into tears. She clung to Jared’s arm, wiping her eyes. “I don’t want you to fight. Please don’t do this.”

Jared looked at me, his voice cold. “Work isn’t negotiable. You can keep your little hobbies, but you’re not walking away from our family.”

He bent down, lifted Yvonne into his arms, grabbed her tiny backpack, and walked out.

I didn’t shed a single tear. To be honest, I wasn’t even mad. I had seen this coming.

“Mrs. Holcomb, are you okay?” Wendy and Joyce asked, voices worried..

I smiled, “I’m fine. Sorry about the mess–can you clean it up?” Then I grabbed my purse and car keys and left.

I drove around aimlessly, the wind whipping through the open window, lifting my scarf. Behind my sunglasses, my eyes started to burn.

I married a rich guy and lived this shiny. To everyone else, I should’ve been carefree and happy. And maybe I was, once. But I’d got stuck in my head, slowly falling apart.

I thought after that fight, Jared wouldn’t ask me to lunch. But around eleven, while I was sitting in a café, sipping bitter coffee, he texted to ask where I was.

told me to meet him at a restaurant downstairs

and touched up my makeup. If Jared wanted to treat me like his arm candy, fine, I’d play the

up, the noisy crowd went quiet. The guys couldn’t even look me in the eyes. They got all polite, keeping their voices low. Some mumbled “hi,”

a crisp suit, over six feet tall, looking sharp. I was killing it–absolutely stunning.

saw Tracy, sitting right beside Jared. She had

was a quarter–million–dollar piece, her

me but didn’t say

to sit. Then everyone started chatting, digging into their food. Halfway through the meal,

feeling himself today–his picture–perfect wife on one side, his sharp mistress on the other. The other guys

smiled, worked the room, and kept up appearances. Guys were checking me out with those hungry

a lot, a faint flush coloring his handsome

1/2

Tracy stepped in. “Mr. Holcomb can’t drink more,” she said. “He’s got a meeting

over with some glib

the company, and everyone treated her

silent provocation aimed at me. But I acted like I didn’t catch it. Why bother? I was already done with this marriage. If she wanted that jerk Jared, she could have

off today, her face

up, and