had heard there was “some trouble” with my bakery and couldn’t risk her order.
I stared at the message until the words blurred.
Vanessa wasn’t just embarrassing me anymore. She was costing me money.
That night, I put my phone on the kitchen table.
“We post everything,” I said. “Every conversation. Full screenshots. Dates. All of it.”
She was costing me money.
Irvin shook his head. “And turn our marriage into neighborhood entertainment? No. We fix the garage, stabilize the business, and stop giving her more of our life.”
“She’s already made our marriage neighborhood entertainment.”
“Then we don’t help her do it.”
“Your weak boundaries are part of the reason we’re here! We have to fight back.”
The words hurt him. I saw it immediately.
“And turn our marriage into neighborhood entertainment?”
“I’m not protecting Vanessa,” he said. “I’m trying to protect you. I’m the one who built that
