In all honesty, I was surprised she called in Nick to help me all those years
ago. I suspected her disdain for the mental health profession had something to do with my father. If I ever approached the conversation, she would shut it down.
My mother never talked about those things. According to my mother, she had no
life before she married Gregory Chase. I always wondered how she had taken his
death so well.
“I found out he was cheating on me and he told me I was crazy,” I said numbly.
Slamming the oven door, she huffed, “Well, you can’t stand for that. You have rights.”
“We’ll work it out, Mother. Just trust me. I already have a job lined up.”
Before I married him, I had a good career as a book editor for Nitro Publishing. I was great at my job and had a list of bestsellers to prove it, but Jeremy didn’t want his wife to work, especially not in such an unflattering job.
You’ll be fine at home. I need you at my side. Imagine a successfulinvestment banker needing his wife to work. I had been his trophy to polish up
and show off. And now, I was homeless and broke. My hands were tied. I was forced to accept his decision…his punishment.
During the two months I lived with my mother, I was reminded daily that she
was right about never turning over all my power. I used that time to grow stronger, and a plan developed in my mind. I was not going to lose everything. I
would protect myself. I would not be the victim.
I would wait for him to contact me. There was no doubt in my mind he would. A divorce would be the greatest embarrassment to him. He would have to
admit he failed at something.
I picked up more work from Thomas and helped my mother at her events. I
was going to live as if there was no Jeremy and let fate decide my course. As expected, Jeremy finally reached out to me after months of silence. Our reconciliation was not the flowery apology I wanted or the dedication of his love. Instead, I received a text message.
Jeremy: Are you ready to apologize?
Caitlyn: You were right. I was just hormonal.
Fuck you, Jeremy. You know I did nothing wrong.
Jeremy: You can come home if you promise not to act like that again.
You hurt me, babe :(
Caitlyn: I know. Let me make it up to you.
Yes, I’ll make everything up to you.
Jeremy: I’ll send a driver for you today.
My mother told me it was a mistake to trust him again and suggested I contact Dr. Fisher. I promised her I would be in control this time and he had learned from his mistake. I could never tell her my plan, but I knew if I could,
she would have been proud.
When Jeremy’s driver arrived, I hesitated. No, Caitlyn. You can do this. One year. Then, you’re free.
The ride in the limousine felt like I was on my way to a funeral… my own.
In many ways, it was like my death. The naive twenty-three-year-old who had dreamed of happily ever after was gone. Welcome back, Caitlyn Chase, a woman
with drive and dreams of her own.
I wasn’t excited or hopeful that Jeremy and I would reconcile. We would never share a happily ever after. No. I was determined. Determined to get what I
deserved out of life, not the scraps Jeremy thought I earned.
When I arrived home, I found a bouquet of red roses on the counter. Yuck. I
hate roses. Lies on a stem of sharp thorns. How appropriate to remind me whatkind of man sends roses after they treat you poorly. He never sent me the flowers I loved because daisies are not classy enough. Jeremy once told me daisies were
for teenage boys to give to teenage girls with their heads full of dreams just to get them into bed.
The note simply read:
All is forgiven, babe.
He couldn’t even write my name on the apology?
