“Please, Daniel. Please don’t do this. Where will I go? I have nothing without you.”
“You should have thought about that before you mistreated my mother.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll do anything. Anything you want.”
Daniel looked down at the woman he had married five years ago, the woman he thought he loved. She looked small and desperate on the floor, but he felt nothing. No love. No pity. Nothing.
“I’ll give you one week,” he said. “One week to pack your things and find somewhere else to live. After that, my lawyers will contact you about the divorce.”
“Divorce?” Vanessa looked up, her eyes wide with horror. “No. No, please. You can’t divorce me.”
“I can and I will. You made your choice when you hurt my mother. Now I’m making mine.”
Daniel turned and walked toward the door.
“Daniel!” Vanessa screamed. “Daniel, please don’t leave! We can work this out! I love you!”
But Daniel kept walking. He opened the door and stepped outside into the sunshine. Behind him, he could hear Vanessa crying, screaming, begging, but he did not turn around.
He got into his car and drove away from the house with the red roof.
And he did not look back.
When Daniel got back to the hotel, Mama Ruth was sitting in the living room reading her Bible. She looked up when he came in.
“How did it go?” she asked quietly.
Daniel sat down next to her.
“I told her to leave. I told her I want a divorce.”
Mama Ruth closed her Bible and put her hand on her son’s arm.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Yes, Mama. I’m sure. What she did to you, I can’t forgive that. And even if I could, I don’t think I could ever trust her again.”
“I’m sorry, son.”
“Don’t be sorry. You did nothing wrong. This is all on Vanessa.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then Daniel said, “Mama, I want you to come live with me.”
“Live with you? Where?”
“I have a big house abroad. Five bedrooms, a garden. It’s beautiful. You would love it.”
Mama Ruth shook her head.
“Daniel, I can’t leave. This is my home. My church is here. My friends are here.”
“Then I’ll move back here. I’ll run my businesses from home. I’ll build you a new house anywhere you want with everything you need. And I’ll live nearby so I can see you every day.”
“Daniel, you don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. I missed five years of your life, Mama. Five years I can never get back. I’m not missing any more.”
Tears filled Mama Ruth’s eyes.
“You really mean that?”
“I really mean it. From now on, you’re my priority. Not work. Not money. You.”
Mama Ruth hugged her son tight.
“I love you, Daniel.”
“I love you too, Mama.”
The next seven days passed quickly. Daniel stayed at the hotel with Mama Ruth. Every morning, they had breakfast together. Every afternoon, they would take slow walks in the park nearby. Every evening, they would sit and talk, really talk, about everything they had missed in the past five years.
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