Beyond the Divorce

Chapter 7 Looking for Evidence

I had almost finished preparing the food when Matthew returned with our daughter. Ava ran in, exclaiming in her sweet and childish voice, “Mommy, I’m back! Daddy picked me up!”

Her adorable voice brought tears to my eyes, but I suppressed my emotions. “I got you some pineapples. They’re your favorite, right?”

“Oh! Mommy, you’re the best! I can’t wait to eat them” She ran out and headed to Matthew, saying, “Daddy, I want to eat pineapples!”

“You can have a small piece for now. You can have more after dinner, okay?” Matthew washed his hands and took a small piece to hand to our eager little girl. Then he squeezed into the tiny kitchen and hugged me from behind. “Why did you make so much food?”

I felt terrible because this once-happy family of three was now on the verge of collapsing.

from a business trip. You must be tired.” I forced

heart immediately sank. I playfully nudged him with my elbow. “Set the table

I wondered if he thought of the other woman whenever he held me. When I finished cooking, I smiled and asked, “Do you want

me questioningly. “Why do you suddenly want to

I turned to get the wine.

felt my heart shattering into a million pieces as I spoke. I knew Matthew couldn’t handle alcohol well, so I poured him

in high spirits as I reminisced about our college days, starting the business, and our current life. I seemed

while reminding me not to drink too much. Ultimately, he drank more than he could handle. He was drunk when I helped him onto

My heart was pounding as it was my first time looking through his things in so many years. I finally realized how foolish I was to

through his pockets and

quietly approached him, trying to grab his hand, but he suddenly turned and caught me, staring at

need water,” he slurred at

out to pour him a glass of water and fed it to him. Then he collapsed back onto the bed, fast asleep. I unlocked and looked through his phone but found no suspicious names in the call history. I recognized