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She stared, stunned.
“Excuse me?”
Emily appeared behind me, barefoot, one hand on her belly.
“Dad, you don’t have to—”
Linda protested, “You’re kicking us out? Over a mattress?”
“A mattress?” I repeated. “You lied to a pregnant woman. You humiliated my daughter—my only daughter—in her own father’s home. And you think this is about a mattress?”
“Well, congratulations, Linda. That resentment just cost you your marriage.”
I answered plainly: they had three days.
Linda cried victimhood.
“After everything I’ve done for you?”
We began packing. Emily tried to help; I told her she didn’t have to.
“I want to,” I said.
By the third day, they were gone. No apologies. Just slammed doors and silence.
“Always.”
I filed for divorce the following week. It was quick and clean.
Linda told others I was heartless. But the truth spread, and her version collapsed. Some friends admitted they’d seen the signs. Others apologized for staying silent.