“Another woman?”
She nodded.
“I found out last week that he’s engaged.”
I stared at her.
“Already?”
“Her name is Claire.”
Within minutes, we found his public engagement announcement online.
There was Nathan, smiling broadly beside a beautiful woman wearing a sparkling diamond ring.
The caption read:
“Can’t wait to begin our forever.”
I turned the phone toward Vanessa.
“Does this man buy his promises in bulk?”
She laughed unexpectedly.
Then started crying.
I handed her a napkin.
“Listen, Vanessa. We’re not friends.”
“I know.”
“But Lily is asking the same questions Joel asked five years ago.”
She nodded.
“Neither of them deserves this.”
Vanessa looked at me carefully.
“What are you suggesting?”
I leaned forward.
“That Nathan finally takes responsibility for the children he keeps leaving behind.”
We spent the next hour
comparing what Nathan had told each of us.
The unpaid support.
The abandoned debts.
The promises he’d broken.
The stories he’d used to keep us from asking questions.
Vanessa admitted he’d claimed I refused to let him see Joel.
I shook my head.
“He had my phone number, my address, and apparently someone living three houses away who reported everything I did.”
Vanessa covered her face.
“My mother actually became his spy.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“And he paid her rent while telling me he couldn’t afford child support.”
She let out a bitter laugh.
“That’s unbelievable.”
“Apparently, he had a budget for surveillance. Just not fatherhood.”
For the first time, we both laughed.
Then Vanessa leaned closer.
“Sarah, what if we stopped letting him control everything?”
I looked at her.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
By the time we left the coffee shop, we had a plan.
We
would consult our attorneys.
We would address the support obligations Nathan had ignored.
And we would stop allowing him to tell different stories to different women.
Vanessa smiled faintly as we reached the parking lot.
“This is going to ruin his Thursday.”
I returned her smile.
“Good. He’s ruined enough Tuesdays.”
Ivy called me that evening.
“Sarah, I never wanted to hurt you.”
I took a breath.
“You spent five years reporting information about my son to his father.”
“Nathan only wanted to know how Joel was doing.”
“Then Nathan should have asked Joel himself.”
“I thought I was helping.”
“No, Ivy. You helped him avoid the responsibilities he owed his child.”
