I said he was welcome to try, but that he should probably talk to a lawyer first because he might be surprised by what he’d agreed to. I told him he had 30 days to find somewhere else to live. He laughed and said I couldn’t kick him out of his own home. I told him again that it wasn’t his home and that it never had been. He said I was bluffing and that I’d never choose a teenager over my husband.
I told him that teenager was my daughter and that I would choose her over anyone in the world, including him. He didn’t believe me. He thought I’d calm down and change my mind. He thought I’d realize I needed him. He went to bed that night like nothing had happened. I slept in Lily’s room on an air mattress because I wanted her to know I was on her side.
The next morning, I called a locksmith and had all the locks changed while my husband was at work. The locksmith finished at 2:00 in the afternoon and handed me three new keys. I paid him in cash and watched him drive away. My phone started ringing before I even got back inside. My husband’s name flashed on the screen.