Chapter 12 - THE DAY HIS TWO LIVES COLLAPSED
Grant's employer terminated him three weeks later.
The company's review concluded that he had violated its conflict-of-interest and outside-business policies and had improperly used professional relationships in connection with Northline.
The separate questions involving the financing documents remained with the lender, attorneys, and relevant investigators.
Losing his job did not automatically settle our marriage.
It did, however, change the financial reality Grant had been using to intimidate me.
The salary he called his income was gone.
Northline had failed to secure the contracts on which its projections depended.
Elise had withdrawn from daily management while her lawyers negotiated the dissolution of their business relationship.
And Grant still faced personal obligations connected to the startup financing.
He called me one evening.
This time, he wasn't shouting.
“Emily, can we talk?”
I hesitated.
“About Ivy?”
“About everything.”
I looked at the legal documents spread across my desk.
“Our attorneys are handling the financial issues. What do you need to discuss?”
He was silent for several seconds.
Then he said:
“I think I've ruined my life.”
I closed my eyes.
A part of me still remembered the man I married.
The man who brought me soup when I had the flu.
The man who cried when Ivy was born.
The man who once described me as the most capable person he had ever met.
But I also remembered the man who told me our daughter was becoming an excuse.
The man who secretly moved our money.
The man who treated my home and my career as resources he could use without asking.
I could feel sadness for him without volunteering to rescue him.
“I'm sorry you're struggling, Grant.”
He exhaled shakily.
“That's all you have to say?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don't know.”
For once, he sounded like he was telling the truth.
Then he said:
“Elise told me she thought I was already separated when we started seeing each other.”
I remained silent.
“I let her believe that.”
“I know.”
“I told Mom you weren't coping with motherhood.”
“I know.”
“And I told myself I was the only one keeping our family afloat.”
My throat tightened.
“Why?”
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he whispered:
“Because I couldn't stand how much I still depended on you.”
The admission hurt.
Grant had always admired my intelligence when we were dating.
He asked for my advice about investments.
Celebrated my promotions.
Told friends he had married the smartest woman in the room.
But after Ivy was born, he began treating my temporary absence from paid work as evidence that I had become less important.
Perhaps he had felt overshadowed by my career.
Perhaps Elise made him feel more successful.
Perhaps he had simply grown entitled to all the work I performed without noticing it.
None of those explanations excused what he had done.
“I never wanted to compete with you,” I whispered.
“I know.”
“We were supposed to be partners.”
His voice broke.
“I know.”
For several moments, neither of us spoke.
Then I said the words I had been avoiding.
“I want a divorce.”
The silence was absolute.
Finally, Grant whispered:
“Is there really nothing I can do?”
“You can become a better father to Ivy.”
I took a breath.
“But I don't want to be your wife anymore.”
He didn't argue.
Not this time.
A few days later, Ava informed me that Elise had provided additional documents concerning Northline's financing.
Those records supported my position that I had never knowingly agreed to become a partner or financial guarantor.
The lender continued pursuing its remedies against the parties responsible for the actual obligations.
Meanwhile, my dispute over the unauthorized joint-account transfers became part of our divorce negotiations.
Then Grant's attorney submitted an updated financial disclosure.
I noticed something strange.
His personal savings were nearly gone.
His retirement account had been reduced.
And the investment property he purchased before our marriage was being prepared for sale.
I assumed he was trying to cover his debts.
Then Ava turned to the final page.
“Emily, there's something you should know.”
She showed me a payment authorization.
Grant had recently repaid Diane's twenty-five-thousand-dollar loan.
And he had arranged to return a substantial portion of the money taken from our joint savings.
I stared at the document.
May you like
It did not undo what he had done.
But for the first time, Grant was beginning to accept responsibility without asking me to save him from the consequences.
