I walked back into the dining room.
“I want to make a toast.”
Conversation stopped.
Elon stood near the doorway for a second, then sat.
I looked at Mom, Dad, his parents, then my husband.
“I had a different anniversary speech planned.”
Elon’s face tightened.
“This week, I called Elon because I wanted to know whether he’d be home for dinner.”
“Madeline.”
“He thought the call ended.”
The color left his face.
His mom lowered her glass.
I kept going.
“I heard him talking to a woman named Sierra.”
Elon shifted in his chair.
“You told her I was driving you insane. You complained because I sent you pictures of Sophie.”
“Maddie, stop.”
My voice stayed calm.
“You told her you hated me. Then you said you’d divorce me and marry her.”
His dad looked at him.
“Is that true?”
Elon rubbed both hands over his face.
“She heard part of a private conversation.”
“I heard enough.”
“Things were said.”
“You kissed her.”
His head snapped up.
“I was venting.”
“Did venting require kissing her too?”
Silence.
That was the first real answer I’d had all week.
Then Elon pushed back from the table.
“You have no idea what the last few months have been like for me.”
“For you?”
“You disappeared after Sophie was born. Every conversation became feeding schedules, naps, diapers, when I’d be home.”
The words landed exactly where he knew they would.
For six days, I’d wondered whether motherhood had erased what he once loved about me.
I looked at Sophie sleeping against Mom’s shoulder.
Then I looked back at him.
“You left me alone with our daughter most nights.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“It became my whole life because you kept stepping out of it.”
His face hardened.
“I felt like there wasn’t room for me anymore.”
“Then you should’ve told me you were lonely.”
“I tried.”
“You told me you were working and left me to figure it out.”
He looked away.
“You stayed late, lied about meetings, and found somebody else. That’s not trying to repair a marriage.”
His voice dropped.
“And now you’re doing this in front of everyone.”
“I’m doing this in front of the same people you were happy to let believe everything was fine.”
“What are you trying to prove?”
“Nothing.”
I reached beside my chair and pulled out my copy of the prenup.
I placed it on the table.
Elon stared at it.
“Seriously?”
“You remember it.”
His jaw tightened.
“You were terrified I’d marry you, cheat on you, and walk away with what you’d built.”
“I never wanted your money.”
I rested my hand on the papers.
“But I’m glad I had this reviewed before I gave up more of my independence.”
He looked at the document, then at me.
“You think this means you get everything?”
I didn’t raise my voice.
“It means I know enough now to stop being frightened by whatever future you were planning without me.”
His eyes shifted toward Sophie.
“So you’re just taking her?”
FULL STORY on the next page.