Austin was worried about her. The man who’d engineered her complete destruction was worried about her. I hope you’re still planning to come to the baby shower, Cynthia continued. I know it might be awkward, but Austin thinks it would really help you move on. Move on. You know, except that Austin’s happy now and stop holding on to the past.
He said you’ve been having trouble letting go of your marriage. Amanda felt something inside her crack. Cynthia wasn’t just carrying Austin’s baby. She was carrying his narrative about her. She genuinely believed Amanda was some pathetic ex-wife who couldn’t accept that Austin had moved on to someone better. Cynthia, can I ask you something? Of course.
Did Austin tell you why our marriage ended? He said you became obsessed with having a baby and it put too much strain on your relationship that you couldn’t handle it when the treatments didn’t work and you started blaming him for your fertility problems. Austin had told her that Amanda had blamed him for her fertility problems when the truth was that he blamed her for his fertility problems.
Did he mention that he had fertility issues, too? Cynthia looked confused. Austin doesn’t have fertility issues. The doctor said our baby was conceived naturally. No problems at all. Austin had testing done that showed low sperm count and motility issues. I think you might be confused, Amanda. Austin and I got pregnant on our second month of trying.
There’s nothing wrong with Austin’s fertility. Amanda stared at her, realizing that Austin had lied to her about his test results, too. There had never been any fertility issues on his side. He’d invented that story to make her feel less alone in her supposed brokenness, then used it as another reason to leave her when he found someone else.
Anyway, Cynthia continued, “I hope you can be happy for us. Austin deserves to have the family he’s always wanted. Austin deserves to have the family he’s always wanted. As if she’d been selfishly preventing him from having children instead of desperately trying to give them to him. She walked away from Cynthia without another word, leaving her groceries in the cart again.
In her car, she sat shaking with a rage so pure it scared her. Austin hadn’t just left her for someone else. He’d systematically destroyed her sense of reality, made her question her own memories, and convinced everyone in their social circle that she was an unstable woman who’d driven away a good man.
And now he was planning to parade her in front of their friends and family as proof of how right he’d been to leave her. That night, she called Maria again. “I can’t do this anymore,” she told her through tears. “Austin has destroyed everything. My marriage, my home, my finances, my reputation. Even the woman he left me for thinks I’m the crazy ex-wife who couldn’t handle that he was happy.
