My life in Columbus Ohio felt complete as a stay at home mother on maternity leave with my three month old daughter Hailey. My husband Liam and I had been married for two years but his behavior changed after our baby was born. He began working late shifts at his downtown corporate office almost every night. One afternoon I called him simply to ask if he would be home for dinner. He answered with extreme irritation complaining that I was checking up on him during his workday. I expressed my love and thought our conversation had ended but he failed to press the end button. While Hailey slept peacefully in her crib I noticed the call timer was still running on my phone. Before I could hang up I heard a woman laughing softly through the speaker. I stood completely frozen as I listened to Liam complain to this unseen woman about how my constant pictures of our daughter were driving him insane.

The voices coming through my phone shattered everything I believed about my marriage in an instant. I listened in absolute horror as my husband explicitly stated that he hated me and promised this woman he would divorce me to marry her instead. The sickening sound of a kiss confirmed my worst fears yet I stood by the changing table without making a single sound. When Liam arrived home two hours later with grocery store daisies he pretended to be a devoted family man. I kept my composure and watched him carefully for six full days noticing how he guarded his phone and wore expensive cologne for his supposed late shifts. He even tried to convince me to extend my maternity leave to ensure I became entirely dependent on his income. While he slept I secretly gathered our mortgage statements and bank records. I also retrieved our prenuptial agreement to understand my legal protections and scheduled a private consultation with a local family law attorney.