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.

back from a business trip. You must be tired.” I forced a smile and asked, “Were

a reply, and my heart immediately sank. I playfully nudged him

me sick. I wondered if he thought of the other woman whenever he held me. When I finished cooking, I smiled

questioningly. “Why do you suddenly want to

I turned to get

pieces as I spoke. I knew Matthew couldn’t handle alcohol well, so I poured

I reminisced about our

while reminding me not to drink too much. Ultimately, he drank more than he could handle. He was

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

his pockets and bag but found nothing valuable.

to grab his hand, but he suddenly turned

he slurred

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