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I remembered Kara helping me in the kitchen, laughing about burnt rolls.
“You can talk to my lawyer.”
I swallowed bile.
“Mer, please—”
“Out,” I repeated. “You can talk to my lawyer.”
Hannah shut the door.
I heard him say, “Meredith!” on the other side.
The next morning, I called a divorce attorney.
Her name was Priya. Calm voice. Sharp eyes.
I told her everything. The kidney. The affair. The sister.
“I want out.”
“Do you want to try counseling?” she asked. “Or are you done?”
“Then we move,” she said. “Fast.”
We separated. He moved into an apartment. I stayed in the house with the kids.
I gave them the age-appropriate version.
“This is about grown-up choices. Not you.”
“Dad and I are not going to live together anymore,” I told them at the kitchen table. “But we both love you very much.”
Ella stared at her hands.
“Did we do something wrong?” she whispered.
My heart cracked.