A little girl standing on the road | Source: Midjourney

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"What do you mean, honey? What new dad?"

He looked at me as if I had just asked the stupidest question in the world.

“Well, the new dad. He always takes me to Mom's office and then we come home. Sometimes we even go for walks! Last week we went to the zoo and saw the elephants. And he comes over to our house when you're not there. He's really sweet. Sometimes he brings me cookies.”

I felt like the floor was collapsing on top of me. I kept my expression neutral, my voice calm, even though my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.

“Oh. I see. Well, he couldn't make it today, so I came in his place. Aren't you glad he came?”

"Of course I am!" she giggled, completely unaware of everything. "I don't like calling him Dad, though, even though he keeps asking. It seems weird. So I just call him the new dad."

I swallowed hard. "Okay, okay. It makes sense."

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A man driving a car | Source: Unsplash
A man driving a car | Source: Unsplash

She talked the whole car ride home. About her teacher, Ms. Rodriguez. About the sandbox and how Tommy had pushed her, then apologized. Lizzy went on and on about the drawing she'd made of a giraffe.

I made the appropriate sounds, like, “Uh-huh, wow, that’s awesome!”

But I didn't hear a word. My brain was stuck on a single thought, which kept repeating itself incessantly. Who the hell was the new dad?

And since when did Sophia start bringing Lizzy to her office? She'd never mentioned it. Not once.

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When we got home, I made Lizzy dinner. Her favorites: chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. Then I helped her with a puzzle while my mind was racing.

That night, I lay in bed next to my wife, staring at the ceiling as she slept. I wanted to wake her and demand an explanation. But something stopped me. Maybe it was fear of what she might say. Maybe it was the need for certainty before accusing her of anything.

In both cases, I didn't sleep.

A Man in Trouble | Source: Midjourney

A Man in Trouble | Source: Midjourney

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The next morning, I had made my decision. I called to say I was sick at work. I told my boss I had the stomach flu. Then, around noon, I drove to Lizzy's school. I parked across the street, in a spot where I could see the entrance, but far enough back that no one would notice. Sophia was supposed to pick her up that afternoon at three.

But when the doors opened and the children began to pour out, it wasn't Sophia who approached Lizzy.

My knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.

“What…? Oh my God… I can’t believe it.”

The man holding my daughter's hand was Ben, Sophia's secretary.

He's younger than my wife, maybe five or seven years. Fresh out of college, always smiling in those corporate photos he sometimes showed me. I'd seen his face in the background of event videos and heard his name mentioned in passing. That's all. That's all I knew about him.

Until now.

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A person holding a child's hand | Source: Freepik

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