She Walked Up To Me On The Beach After Three Years Of No Contact… And I Knew Why She Was There.

Prenuptial agreement, page 17, subsection D: In the event of verified infidelity by either party, all jointly held assets revert to the non-offending spouse’s sole control, pending dissolution proceedings. We’d signed it two weeks before the wedding. She’d laughed, called it overkill, said she’d never cheat.

I believed her then. My father had insisted on it anyway. I pulled out a manila envelope I’d been carrying in the duffel bag for over a year.

It had been in my father’s safe deposit box, marked with my name and a date. Open only if necessary. I’d opened it six months ago, the night I confirmed what Samantha was doing.

Inside was a letter in my father’s handwriting, shaky from the illness that eventually killed him. Jason, if you’re reading this, something went wrong. Either with business or with love.

Probably love. I married your mother when I was 23 and divorced her when I was 30. She was beautiful and ambitious.

And somewhere along the way, she forgot we were supposed to be partners, not competitors. Don’t let guilt trap you. Don’t let anyone convince you that staying is noble when leaving is survival.

You’re my son, and I know you’re loyal to a fault. But loyalty without reciprocity is just volunteering to drown. I’ve set up a secondary LLC under Hartford Industries.

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