Maya's POV
The coffee mugs jumped when I slammed the divorce papers onto the kitchen table. Startled, David raised his head from his phone.
"Maya? What are you—"
"Sign them," I said.
When he saw the papers, his face turned white. Sarah had shown me the same documents at the coffee shop. He believed that this weekend's papers would surprise me.
"How did you get those?" His voice was hardly audible.
"Is it important? David, you want a divorce. Here it is."
With trembling hands, David slowly got to his feet. "Maya, we must discuss this. You can't simply—"
"Talk?" I chuckled, but not in a joyful way. "Want to speak? After lying for a year? after I turned my son against me? Ten years ago, they took photos of me with Alex, but they never told me?"
David's coffee mug fell to the ground. "You know about the pictures," he said.
"I am aware of everything."
David's expression shifted. Something cold replaced the phony concern. It was something I had never seen before.
"Then you know you can't fight me," he said softly.
"David, I'm not battling you. I'm providing you with precisely what you desire."
I grabbed a pen and began signing the documents. Every line that said I would leave with nothing had my name on it.
"Stop, Maya." David took hold of my wrist. "This is not necessary for you to do."
His hand on my arm caught my attention. The same hand that held mine in our youth and love. The same hand that had captured those images of me at my lowest point.
"Leave me alone."
"Please, Maya. Let's keep this reasonable."
"Reasonable?" I pulled my arm away. "For example, how sensible were you to use pictures from a decade ago as a form of blackmail? For example, how logical was Jessica's statement that I wasn't destined to be a mother to my son?"
David's face flushed. "She didn't say that."
"She did. You also allowed her. You assisted her."
"I wanted to make this simpler for everyone!"
"Who finds it easier? For you? For Jessica? Or Ethan, who will grow up believing his mother left him?"
David combed his hair with his hands. "Ethan will be alright. Jessica loves him."
"Jessica adores the thought of having a pre-made family. She is not in love with Ethan. She adores what Ethan stands for."
"That isn't accurate."
I continued to sign documents. "It is no longer relevant. Jessica is yours. The house is yours. Everything is yours."
"You're going crazy, Maya. No mother relinquishes custody of her child."
I glanced up at him. "You're correct. Mothers don't. However, you, Jessica, and my own son all claim that I was never truly a mother."
As if I had slapped him, David took a step back. " You don't mean it."
"I really mean it. Ethan desires to have Jessica as his mother. Jessica is the woman you wish to marry. My life is what Jessica wants. Everyone gets what they desire."
"How about you? What would you like?"
I put down the pen and signed the final page. "I desire freedom."
"What will freedom give you? You don't have a job, money, or housing."
"I'll work it out."
David looked at me as if he had never seen me before. "Maya, this isn't you. You're not this frigid."
"You're correct. The elderly Maya was not frigid. The elderly Maya wept, pleaded, and made an effort to cling to those who did not want her. However, that Maya is no longer there."
"Where will you go?"
"That is no longer your problem."
David took hold of my arm once more as I started to pack my belongings and head for the stairs. "Maya, the photos. I'll use them if you try to stir up trouble or try to turn Ethan against Jessica."
I slowly turned around. "Use them how?"
"I'll show to everyone your true nature. I'll show you cheated on me. that you're not the ideal mother and wife you portray yourself to be."
"Go ahead."
David blinked. "What?"
"Go ahead and show them. Prove to the town that the night before graduation, I had an affair. Prove to them that I was a person. that I was not perfect. that I felt something."
"Maya, you're not thinking straight."
"I'm thinking more clearly than I have in a long time. David, are you aware of what those images will actually depict?"
He gave a headshake.
"They'll prove that you knew I had dated Alex when you married me. They'll demonstrate how you fabricated our entire marriage. They'll demonstrate that you never had enough faith in me to tell me you were aware."
David's face turned white. "People won't see it that way."
"Perhaps not. However, I no longer give a damn about what people think. Ethan was the only one whose viewpoint I cared about. Additionally, he has already made up his mind."
I made my way back upstairs.
"Maya!" I was called after by David. "You can't simply walk away! What should I say to Ethan?"
Halfway up the stairs, I stopped. "Be honest with him. Tell him that his mother allowed him to be happy because she loved him so much."
"He will pose inquiries. He will question why you left."
"Then, for once in your life, give them an honest response."
I went back upstairs to gather my belongings. I had very little. Only clothing and a few personal belongings. The rest belonged to the life I was abandoning.
I heard David talking on the phone downstairs as I packed my belongings into a suitcase.
"Jessica? It's happening. Maya discovered the documents. She's signing them, though. She is relinquishing custody. I'm not sure where she's heading."
I could still hear bits of his voice as it grew quieter.
"The images? She is indifferent. It's strange, I know. She's behaving like a totally different person. Someone entirely different."
Perhaps I was.
I carried my suitcase downstairs twenty minutes later. When David saw me, he hung up the phone, even though he was still speaking to Jessica.
"Please, Maya. Avoid doing this."
"It's finished already."
"How about Ethan? Do you not want to bid us farewell?"
I felt a little heartbreak. Naturally, I wanted to bid my son farewell. I wanted to embrace him and express my love for him. I wanted to clarify that I wasn't leaving because I had lost interest.
However, I was also aware that bidding him farewell would only cause confusion. Jessica's job would be more difficult. In spite of everything, I didn't want to cause Ethan any more pain than I had already.
I just said, "Tell him I love him."
"Maya—"
"Tell him that my actions were motivated by my love for him. Even this."
I started for the front door, then halted. "David?"
"Yes?"
"You should be aware of something regarding the photos you took."
He appeared perplexed. "What about them?"
For the first time in days, I grinned. "I was with other people in college besides Alex."
David's mouth fell open. "What does that mean?"
I went outside after opening the front door. "It means you might be shocked by what comes out if you try to ruin me with your blackmail."
Maya, hold on! "What are you talking about?"
However, I had already started to walk to my car. After placing my bag in the trunk, I took the wheel. David was standing in the doorway with his phone pressed to his ear as I pulled out of the driveway. I'll probably give Jessica a call to let her know about this new issue.
However, David was unaware of the most significant issue. He had no idea that one of the other guys from my time in college was now worth more than the whole neighborhood. Furthermore, he was unaware that Alex Stone had been waiting for my call back for a decade.
As I was leaving the house where I had lived for the last ten years of my life, my phone rang.
"Maya? It's Alex."
"Where are you?"
I cried as I said, "I'm free." "I'm at last free."
"All right. Because I want to tell you something. Something about David's photos."
"What about them?"
Alex sounded extremely serious. "I am aware of where he keeps them. I also know how to retrieve them.