Chapter 1
I walked into my living room holding our crying baby and found my husband drinking with his friends again. That night, I finally said what I had been swallowing for months.
Every evening after work, Ryan brought three or four friends back to our house in Dallas.
They drank beer, ordered food, turned up the TV, and laughed like they were still single.
Meanwhile, I was upstairs alone with our two children.
Our four-year-old needed dinner.
Our ten-month-old wouldn’t stop crying.
And Ryan never once came upstairs to ask if I needed help.
That night, I stepped over empty cans and pizza boxes while carrying the baby on one hip.
“Ryan, can you please help me for five minutes?”
His friends suddenly got quiet.
Ryan looked embarrassed.
“Not now, Emily.”
I stared at him.
“Not now? I’ve been doing this alone since you got home.”
One of his friends looked down at his beer.
Ryan stood up.
“Why are you doing this in front of everyone?”
“Because you bring everyone here every single night.”
His face changed.
“You’re embarrassing me.”
I almost laughed.
“I’m embarrassing you?”
The baby started crying harder.
I pointed at the table covered in plates, bottles, napkins, and half-eaten food.
“Who cleans this every morning?”
Ryan clenched his jaw.
“We’ll talk later.”
“No. We always talk later, and nothing changes.”
His best friend, Mark, quietly said, “Man, maybe we should leave.”
Ryan immediately snapped, “Nobody’s leaving.”
Then he turned back to me.
“If taking care of your own kids is so difficult, maybe you’re the problem.”
The entire room went silent.
I felt my four-year-old grab the back of my shirt.
Then one of Ryan’s friends slowly stood up and looked at him.
“Ryan… you seriously never told her?”
I froze.
May you like
“Told me what?”
Ryan’s face suddenly went pale.
