Chapter 1 - The Manhattan Dinner
My name is Allison Reed.
I was thirty-four and eight weeks pregnant when my seven-year marriage ended over dinner in our Manhattan apartment. At least, that was when I finally admitted it was ending. My husband Michael’s mother, Carol, and his younger sister, Jessica, came over most Sunday evenings. That night, I had spent nearly two hours making Michael’s favorite dinner while fighting waves of nausea, planning to tell him afterward that we were finally having a baby.
Instead, Jessica noticed three delivery boxes beside the front door.
“More shopping, Allison?” she asked, her voice dripping with condescension.
I ignored her, but she didn't let up. “You don’t even go to an office anymore. What could you possibly need this much stuff for?”
Inside those boxes were prenatal vitamins, ginger tea, two loose dresses, and a pregnancy book my doctor had recommended. Jessica didn't know that. She leaned back in her chair and smiled. “My brother works all week while you stay home spending his money. You’re basically a freeloader.”
I looked at Michael. He knew the truth. I hadn’t stopped working; four years earlier, I had left my corporate job to build a successful financial consulting business from home. I also had substantial savings and investments from before our marriage. Michael knew I paid several major household expenses directly from my separate account.
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I waited for him to say something. Anything.
Instead, he put down his fork and shrugged. “If every conversation has to turn into an argument, maybe we should just get divorced.”
