I should ignore it and let it go to voicemail, but a small part of me needed to hear what he had to say.
I grabbed my robe and padded quietly to the living room, not wanting to wake Lily.
“Jack—”
“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?” He said, his voice slurring, and I knew he was drunk. “How long, Paige? How long have you been whoring yourself to my friend?”
His words hit like a physical blow.
“You’re drunk. We’re not doing this?—”
“Answer the damn question!”
“I’m not sleeping with Derek. We are just friends, and now we have?—”
“Bullshit! You moved in with him, Paige. And now you’re all over the internet, looking at him like… like—” His voice cracked, and I heard him take a deep breath. “I-I saw the photos. Everyone saw them. You’re making a fool of me.”
“I’m making a fool of you?” I scoffed. “You’re the one who brought your mistress! You stood there with Olivia, my friend, and you have the audacity to call me a whore?”
A light turned on down the hall. Derek was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, his hair disheveled, with concern written all over his face. I shook my head at him, trying to wave him away, but he sat beside me, turning on the speaker.
“She means nothing,” Jack snapped. “It was a fucking mistake, and you know it. But y-you’re parading around with Peterson like some kind of?—”
“Don’t,” I said, my voice trembling. “Don’t you dare?—”
“I’ll take Lily,” he said calmly, his words making me freeze. “In the custody battle. I’ll take her, Paige. No judge will give a child to a mother who moved in with another man immediately after separating. Who brought her daughter into a sick revenge scheme?—”
Derek took the phone from me. His jaw was tight when he calmly said, “You need to stop.”
“Fuck you, man,” Jack said, his laugh slurring. “Y-you swooped in the second things got hard. Some friend you are.”
“Things ‘got hard’?” Derek’s voice dropped lower. “You cheated on your wife while she was raising your infant daughter alone. You don’t get to play victim here, Jack.”
“I made one mistake! One! And she?—”
“You made a choice. You invited another woman into your bed while your family slept down the hall. That wasn’t a mistake. That was your stupid decision to destroy your marriage.”
“So you’re just going to take her? Take everything I—” Jack said, and I heard the sound of glass breaking in the background. “I’ll take Lily. I swear to God I’ll take her. No judge will?—”
“I’m recording this,” Derek interrupted him, his voice firm but his hand warm on my hand, squeezing it. “Every threat you just made. Every time you called Paige a whore. Every word about taking Lily. You want to play this game, Jack? I’ll bury you in court. I’ll make sure every judge in this city knows exactly who you are.”
There was nothing but heavy breathing from the other side.
“Call Paige again,” Derek continued, “and I’ll add harassment to the list of things we discuss with your divorce attorney.”
He hung up and blocked his number. Then he set the phone down on the coffee table and turned to me.
I was shaking.
Lily. My daughter.
My body trembled, and I couldn’t seem to stop, couldn’t seem to breathe properly, couldn’t?—
“Paige,” Derek said, warm hands cupping my face. “Breathe. He can’t hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“He’s going to take her,” I gasped, my vision turning blurry. “He’s going to take Lily. He said… the judge will?—”
“No,” he said. “No judge will give custody to a man who cheated on his wife and then threatened her over the phone. We have it recorded, Paige. He just handed us ammunition.”
