Chapter 4 - What I Found on the ComputerI took Owen downstairs and bought him ice cream because I had absolutely no idea what else to do. He managed three bites, then looked up at me.
"Does Dad love her more than us?"
My heart nearly broke. I kept my voice steady anyway. "Dad loving someone else doesn't mean he stopped loving you."
"What about you?"
I refused to lie to him. "I think your dad made choices that hurt me very badly."
His lip trembled. "Are we still a family?"
"We will always be a family."
"How?"
"Families can change and still be families." I don't know where those words came from. At the time, I barely believed them myself.
We flew home that evening. The next morning I called my lawyer.
Denise listened without interrupting. Then she told me something important — Nathan's affair itself wouldn't automatically decide custody or how our assets got split. What mattered was marital spending, parenting history, financial records, and anything that actually affected Owen's welfare.
"Document everything," she said. "Don't delete anything, and don't access accounts you're not legally entitled to access."
So I didn't hack Nathan's private accounts. I didn't need to. We had a shared desktop computer he used regularly at home, and he'd left his airline email and personal messages synced to it. Apparently once someone decides a marriage is already over in their own head, they stop being careful.
I found months of messages. Hotel reservations. Restaurant charges. Photos. Conversations about Camille's pregnancy. Even a copy of the prenatal paternity test they'd taken.
I sent everything I was legally allowed to access straight to Denise.
Two days later, Nathan came home while Owen was at school and packed two suitcases. "I'm staying with Camille for now."
I stood in the bedroom doorway. "Okay."
He looked surprised — maybe he'd expected tears, or begging, or a fight. I gave him none of it. Instead I asked one question.
"When are you going to have an actual conversation with Owen?"
May you like
He looked down. "I haven't figured that part out yet."
That answer told me more about him than the affair ever did.
