When I got home from my work trip, I expected chaos—diapers, lullabies, and my exhausted but smiling wife, Heather. Instead, the house was eerily silent. On the hallway table lay a single note: “Goodbye!”
Panic set in. Heather wasn’t answering her phone, and my brother Jason claimed he hadn’t heard from her. Desperate, I checked the security footage. There she was, calm, loading our twins into Jason’s car. My brother. My wife. My kids. Gone.
I confronted Jason at his apartment, but he played dumb. That night, I tailed him to a motel, where Heather met him. My stomach churned as Jason finally admitted, “Heather and I are in love. We thought this was the only way.”
Recording everything, I left, determined to fight for my kids.
Three months later, the court granted Heather custody. But then, a shock—my lawyer revealed the inheritance Jason planned to live off was actually mine. With no job and no money, Child Services stepped in. Two months later, I won full custody of my twins.
Heather didn’t fight it. As I buckled Emma into her car seat, she whispered, “Are you happy now?”
“No,” I said. “But I will be. They deserve better.”
A year later, I work from home and have a wonderful girlfriend, Amy, who adores the twins. Emma giggles at the neighbor’s cat. Ethan’s first word was “car.”
One night, Amy asked, “Do you ever miss her?”
Looking at my happy children, I smiled. “Not for a second.”
