Days later, while on a longer business trip, Victor sent her photos of Mason to ease her homesickness. In one picture, Mason beamed next to a new toy, but something strange caught her eye—a pair of unfamiliar blue shoes in the background. They weren’t hers, yet they stood out in her living room, suggesting someone else was there.
As she scrolled through more photos, the blue shoes appeared again, taunting her. Her heart raced, and her doubts turned into a realization she could no longer ignore. The flight home felt endless, a dreadful certainty settling in her heart.
When she arrived home, she found Mason waking up from his nap. But as she approached her bedroom, Mason clutched her hand and whispered, “Mommy, don’t go in there. You’ll be sad.”
Bracing herself, Paige opened the door. There, tangled in her sheets, were Victor and another woman. The confrontation that followed was a chaotic blur of betrayal and heartbreak. Victor attempted to deflect blame, casting himself as the victim. “You’re always working or with Mason. What about me?” he argued, his face a mask of anger and shame.
Shaken and furious, Paige stepped outside, struggling to process the reality of Victor’s betrayal. Her thoughts shifted to Mason, who had witnessed his father’s deception and had been asked to keep it a secret. How could she protect her son from such a twisted reality?
In the days that followed, with her family’s support, Paige confronted the bitter truth. Her father encouraged her to have Victor leave, and eventually, he moved out. While he continued to deny the affair, Paige found peace in knowing the truth for herself. Victor didn’t contest the divorce, perhaps to salvage whatever dignity he had left.
Reflecting on the signs she had once ignored, Paige committed herself to rebuilding her life with renewed strength—for both herself and Mason.