My Son Called Another Woman Mom, So I Walked Away for Good Chapter 09

My Son Called Another Woman Mom, So I Walked Away for Good Chapter 09

The divorce moved quickly. At first, Cormac refused to sign the settlement. 

My attorney laid out the evidence piece by piece. 

Cormac went through every page, his face growing paler with each one. 

Finally, he looked at me. 

“Do you really have to take it this far?” 

“Yes.” 

I met his eyes. 

“You pushed me this far.” 

He lowered his head. 

He didn’t argue again. 

Cambria was served with the defamation suit as well. 

Later, she issued a public apology admitting that she had posted 

false claims that damaged my reputation. 

After that, I never saw her again. 

I heard things ended badly between her and Cormac. 

She said he had lied to her for two years. 

Cormac accused her of using Kellan. 

My attorney asked whether I wanted updates. 

“No.” 

Kellan had a hard time adjusting for a while. 

During his weekly visits, he cried constantly at first. 

One minute he apologized. The next, he threw a tantrum because 1 

wouldn’t let him play on his tablet. 

One night, he shoved his workbook onto the floor. 

“You were never this strict before!” 

I looked at him. 

“Before, I was afraid you wouldn’t like me.” 

“Now I’m afraid of who you’ll become if no one calls you out when you’re wrong.” 

He stared at me. 

I pointed at the workbook. 

‘Pick it up. 

He didn’t move. 

Neither did I. 

A long time passed before he finally bent down and picked it up. 

He worked on homework until late that night. 

I warmed him a glass of milk. 

Holding the cup in both hands, he asked quietly, “You’re not going 

to make me feel better?” 

I sat across from him. 

“What you need right now isn’t comfort. You need to change.* 

Once Kellan started seeing the counselor, he slowly learned how to 

talk about what had happened. 

One afternoon, he stared at the floor. 

“Cambria never yelled at me.” 

“Dad was always happier when we were there.” 

He swallowed. 

“I thought if I liked her more, Dad would be happier too.” 

I asked. “Did you ever think about whether that would hurt me?” 

He was silent for a long time. 

Then he whispered, “I thought you’d never leave.” 

I looked at him. 

“Do you understand now?” 

He nodded. 

A tear fell onto his workbook. 

Cormac kept trying to see me. He brought food, waited outside my building, and sent me photos of Kellan’s certificates from school. 

One night, he blocked the elevator doors before they could close. 

“I was under a lot of pressure back then.” 

I looked at him. 

*So?* 

*Cambria made things feel easy.” 

I raised my eyes. 

“And I made your life feel hard?” 

His face changed. 

“That’s not what I meant.” 

“You don’t need to explain.” 

His voice dropped. 

“I only realize now how much you did to hold our family together.” 

The elevator arrived. 

I stepped inside. 

“You realized it too late.” 

The day the divorce was finalized, I opened a new checking account in my own name. 

I had found a job. 

The salary wasn’t impressive, but it was enough to support myself. 

After work, I took professional training classes and studied for a certification. 

On weekends, Kellan stayed with me according to our parenting 

schedule. 

I gave him two hours for homework. 

After that, he could read, or he could come grocery shopping with me. 

At first, he hated it. 

“Mom, aren’t you cooking something special?” 

I dropped tomatoes into my cart. 

“No.” 

“What are we eating?” 

Tomato pasta.” 

He looked down. 

“You used to make honey barbecue ribs.” 

I glanced at him. 

“I used to have a lot more time to make my whole life revolve around you.” 

A few months later, he stopped walking through my door and immediately announcing that he was hungry. 

He started taking off his shoes without being reminded and puttir his backpack away on his own. 

When I washed dishes, he stood beside me and asked, “Mom, want me to wipe the table?” 

I handed him a cloth. 

“Sure.” 

One sunny weekend. light poured into the living room. 

A pot of tomato pasta was on the table. 

Kellan was bent over an essay when he suddenly stopped writing. 

I was cutting an apple. 

“What is it?” 

He slowly pushed the paper toward me. 

The assignment was titled: 

My Mom. 

My hand paused. 

Kellan lowered his head and tightened his grip on the pencil. 

A long time passed before he finally wrote the first sentence. 

My mom’s name is Briar Ellison. 

I stood beside him, staring at those words. 

I didn’t move for a long time. 

The family we used to be was never coming back. 

But this time, at least, I had finally stopped blaming the woman I used to be. 

And I was finally ready to live the life I had now. 

END