“Daddy, did I say something wrong?”
I dropped to one knee and kissed the top of his head. “No, buddy. You told the truth. That’s never wrong.”
Then I straightened up and looked at Marcus.
Something inside me was breaking.
I looked straight at Marcus.
“You didn’t just sleep with a married woman.” My voice echoed through the room. “You used your authority to manipulate her.”
Nobody disagreed.
“You made her believe her career depended on keeping you happy.”
Marcus finally looked away.
Nobody disagreed.
Jenna slowly stood.
She looked at Amber, then at Marcus.
Finally she said quietly, “HR is going to hear every word of this.”
Another coworker nodded.
Amber wiped her eyes and turned to Jenna. “If HR asks… I’ll tell them everything.”
Marcus glared at her.
“I’ll tell them everything.”
“It’s time you leave.” I took a step toward him. “Take your jacket and get out of my house before I lose what little patience I have left.”
He hurried toward the door without a word.
Amber watched him leave.
The rest of her coworkers started moving toward the door.
Within ten minutes, the house was empty except for the three of us.
Amber stood before me, trembling.
“Get out of my house.”
“He manipulated you,” I said, fighting to keep my voice level.
She nodded through tears. “Yes.”
“And instead of telling me what he’d done, you played his game and lied to me.”
She hung her head. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
We stood there in silence.
Two different wrongs.
Neither one erased the other.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
Then she looked at me. “I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, but…”
She never finished, and I didn’t reply.
There was nothing to say.
I looked toward Noah, who had curled up on the couch and was quietly watching us.
“Right now, our son deserves two parents who finally stop lying to him,” I murmured.
I picked Noah up, carried him upstairs, and put him to bed.
There was nothing to say.
Behind me, the room stayed silent.
It was still Amber’s birthday.
But by the end of the night, the only gifts left were the truth — and the consequences that came with it.
