Chapter 9 - THE CLIENT DINNER
The client dinner became important because Derek kept insisting it had been unavoidable.
In every filing, every conversation, and every explanation, the same phrase appeared.
Critical business obligation.
Laura requested information related to the dinner.
Derek fought the request.
That made her more interested.
Eventually, the truth came through a woman named Natalie Brooks.
Natalie worked with Derek.
She had attended the dinner.
Laura called me after speaking with her.
“You should sit down.”
I was feeding Emily.
“That sounds ominous.”
“The dinner wasn’t mandatory.”
I stopped moving.
“What?”
“It was a networking dinner.”
My throat tightened.
“Could he have skipped it?”
“Yes.”
I looked down at my daughter.
Emily kept drinking peacefully.
Laura continued.
“Natalie remembers Derek receiving messages from you.”
My stomach turned.
“What did he say?”
Laura hesitated.
“According to her, he joked that you had been having contractions all afternoon.”
I closed my eyes.
“He told them?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“She asked whether he needed to leave.”
I already knew the answer.
“He said no.”
Laura became quiet.
Then she quoted Natalie.
“He said, ‘She’ll figure it out. Women have been giving birth forever.’”
Something inside me broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
I simply started crying.
For weeks, part of me had wondered whether Derek had misunderstood how serious labor was.
Maybe he thought the contractions would stop.
Maybe he believed there was more time.
Maybe his cruelty had been thoughtlessness.
But he knew.
He knew I was in labor.
He told other people.
And he stayed at dinner anyway.
Laura gave me a moment.
Then she said Natalie remembered something else.
Later that evening, Derek apparently laughed about giving me cab money.
One of the men at the table had asked whether he was serious.
Derek replied that I needed to learn not everything revolved around pregnancy.
Rachel walked into the room and saw my face.
“What happened?”
I put the phone on speaker.
Laura repeated everything.
Rachel’s expression became dangerous.
“He laughed about it?”
“Yes.”
I whispered, “In front of clients?”
“Yes.”
For six years, I had protected Derek.
I covered for him when he forgot birthdays.
I told friends he was busy when he skipped family gatherings.
I said he had deadlines when he missed prenatal appointments.
I had spent years turning his choices into excuses.
That night, for the first time, I stopped.
I called my parents.
They lived in North Carolina.
I had not told them the full truth.
I told them now.
My mother cried.
My father became silent.
Then he asked one question.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
I looked at Emily.
“Because I thought you’d tell me to leave.”
“And you weren’t ready.”
“No.”
He exhaled slowly.
“You’re ready now.”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re with you.”
After the call ended, I felt lighter.
Derek’s power had depended partly on secrecy.
May you like
Every person I told removed another brick from the wall he had built around me.
And Natalie had just removed one of the biggest.
