Beyond the Divorce

Chapter 22 Who Was That Woman?

I was in disbelief because the two keys didn’t match. I doubted myself then and wondered if I had wrongly accused Ivanna. Was Matthew seeing someone else, or did he have another trick with those keys?

I didn’t expect this or know if I should feel relieved or frustrated. My mind went blank as a strange feeling crept into me. I suddenly felt the need to turn around and was startled as Ivanna calmly stood behind me.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” She sounded like she had planned this whole thing.

My lips trembled as I looked at Ivanna and felt I could no longer read her. Of course, I was embarrassed when she exposed me. Still, I stood tall and locked eyes with her, saying, “What are you trying to say, Ivanna? Why did you lie to me? What’s going on between you and Matthew?”

Her calm demeanor caught me off guard, provoking my anger and embarrassment.

“I’ve never lied to you. I know what you’re referring to. You want to talk about that day I saw Matthew at

the teahouse.” Ivanna remained composed. “I didn’t want you to get hurt. Although my words can be

harsh, I’ll never take what you love.”

After a pause, she stared at me and asked, “Is our friendship that fragile to you?”

Meanwhile, Ava must’ve sensed the tension in our voices and crawled to be. She hugged my leg as her

eyes showed panic. “M–Mommy!”

quickly knelt and embraced Ava, reassuring her, “It’s okay, baby. Aunt Ivanna and I are discussing

not

she gently patted Ava’s head and said, “Your mommy

fight, sweetheart. We’re best friends, after all. Don’t

at me and patted my shoulder before saying

and I picked Ava up to return to the living room.

what Ivanna knew and what

atmosphere while eating. We made Ava laugh non–stop to dispel the earlier tension. Ava grew excited and ran around the house while

kept tearing up.

was exhausted from all the running, she was finally starting to

fatigued.

+15 BONUS

her and asked, “Would you like to nap here? You can sleep on my

when I nodded with

and I lay down with Ava as she

awesome!”

almost cried hearing my daughter’s words. I hugged her tightly and firmly promised, “I

this

asked

course!” I said firmly,

her eyes closed, and she fell asleep. Her sleeping face was so beautiful