Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
The fallout was swift and merciless.
Without the leverage of primary custody, Nathan’s financial obligations shifted dramatically. He was ordered to pay maximum child support, heavily denting the lavish lifestyle he had promised his twenty-six-year-old mistress.
When Nathan stumbled down to the lobby after the disastrous mediation, entirely defeated, he had to break the news to Sabrina.
According to the inevitable gossip that trickled back through our mutual acquaintances, Sabrina didn't handle the reality check well. She had signed up to be the glamorous stepmother in a wealthy, picture-perfect, blended family. She had loved the idea of parading around school banquets, playing the role of the younger, better replacement.
She had not signed up to be legally banned from seeing Nathan’s son for six months. She had not signed up for a man who was suddenly losing a massive chunk of his income to his ex-wife.
Three weeks after the custody order was finalized, Sabrina packed her designer bags and moved out of Nathan’s luxury apartment. The "perfect partnership" Nathan had thrown away his eighteen-year marriage for had evaporated the exact second it became inconvenient.
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Nathan was left completely, utterly alone in a massive, quiet apartment. There was no one to bring him soup when he was sick. There was no one to manage his calendar, buy his coffee, or make his life function effortlessly. He had spent years treating me like background noise, entirely oblivious to the fact that I was the only thing keeping his life in tune.
When the silence finally set in, the crushing realization of what he had destroyed became his permanent reality.
