Chapter 15
Walking out of the hospital, I nearly collided with someone I hadn’t seen in years.
Vivian Torres was very pregnant, with her tall, Nordic-looking husband carefully guiding her down the steps.
She recognized me immediately.
After whispering something to her husband, she waddled over with a genuine smile.
“Jess! Oh my God, how long has it been?”
Three years later, I could finally have a normal conversation with her without feeling like the insecure ex-wife who wasn’t smart enough for her husband.
Turns out Vivian had left Ryder’s startup pretty much right after our divorce.
She said even though Ryder never directly blamed her, she could feel his resentment.
After all, she was the one who’d kept him in that endless project meeting the day I discovered him dumping my carefully prepared lunch in the trash.
The guilt had eaten at her so much that she’d actually started seeing a therapist about it.
“Stop looking at me like I’m some tragic figure-that whole situation was a blessing in disguise. If I hadn’t left his company, I never would’ve met Erik here.”
Now I felt terrible for harboring all that jealousy toward her, so I confessed that I used to see her as competition.
for home chal
“Sweetie, can we reframe that a little?”
“How so?”
“Let’s say you ‘respected’ me professionally. That sounds so much better than jealousy, don’t you think?”
When I mentioned Ryder’s recent cancer diagnosis, she just shook her head knowingly.
“Poor guy’s been self-destructing for years. He’s got textbook avoidant attachment issues-probably stems from his parents’ messy divorce.”
‘He’s emotionally unavailable until you try to leave, then suddenly he’s desperate. It’s exhausting to be on the receiving end of that.”
‘You’re so much better off without that psychological rollercoaster.”
Before she left, we swapped Instagram handles.
When this little guy makes his debut, you better send me your whole book collection!”
She gave me a cheeky wave: “Autographed copies only, please!”
