Page 24 of The Edge Of Us

“She’s still their mother,” she whispered.

“I know,” I said, softer now. “And that’s why this isn’t easy for me. I’m not trying to punish her. I’m just… trying to protect them.”

Natasha looked down, and for a long while, she said nothing. Then finally, “Do you think she’ll fight you?”

“Absolutely,” I said without hesitation. “She’ll fight like hell. And honestly? She should. She loves them. I would never take that from her. But love isn’t enough if she can’t keep them safe—emotionally, mentally. I have a case. A strong one.”

Natasha pulled her knees closer to her chest. “And if the court sides with her?”

I ran a hand down my face. “Then I’ll keep trying. I’ll get help, I’ll build a better case. I’ll never stop fighting for them.”

She looked up at me. “Are you doing this because you’re angry? Or because you really believe it’s what’s right?”

“That’s the thing,” I said slowly, feeling the weight of it press on my chest. “It’s both. I’m angry at her. For how long she ignored her own spiral. For how she refused help, no matter how many times I begged. But mostly… I’m scared. I don’t want to wait for the next breakdown. I don’t want to keep hoping things will get better while the kids suffer.”

Natasha finally nodded, almost imperceptibly. “Then I’ll stand by you. Whatever happens.”

I moved toward the bed, sitting on the edge. She reached for my hand and held it, her touch unsure, like we were both walking through the aftermath with no map.

“I still feel sick about what she saw,” I admitted, my voice barely audible. “She didn’t deserve this kind of betrayal.”

“She didn’t,” Natasha agreed. “None of us were blameless, Allen. We just… broke under the weight of everything.”

I turned my gaze toward the ceiling, biting the inside of my cheek. “I’ll talk to her. Not just about the divorce. About the kids. When she’s ready.”

“And if she doesn’t forgive you?”

“I wouldn’t expect her to,” I murmured. “But I still have to do what’s right now. For them.”

Natasha shifted beside me, leaning into my side. “And for you?”

I looked down at her. “I don’t know if there’s a ‘right’ for me anymore. I just know I can’t keep pretending this is something it’s not. The marriage… it was over long before tonight.”

She leaned her head against my shoulder. “Then we move forward. Carefully.”

I wrapped my arm around her, but my eyes stayed fixed on the shadows cast across the wall by the dim bedside lamp.

“I just hope someday, they’ll understand,” I whispered. “That I didn’t give up on their mother… I just couldn’t watch her fall apart while dragging them with her.”

Natasha didn’t respond, and for once, the silence didn’t feel suffocating. Just... real.

Chapter 17

Allen

Two days.

It had been two days since Corinne saw me with Natasha.

Two days of silence.

Two days of sitting with the consequences.

Two days of imagining my children’s faces, and knowing I had turned their lives into collateral damage.

I hadn’t gone home. Not because I didn’t want to—God, I did—but because I didn’t know how to walk through that door and face what I’d done.

But now, I had to.

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