Page 95 of Insidious

“No,” I repeat. “You will not pollute my home.”

I watch as she does an imitation of a goldfish. Even angry, I usually stop before I cross the line. Not today.

Luna tries to come around me, but I hold her still. The soft skin of her arms feels like heaven.

I glance back at my wife briefly. Her hair is messy from carrying Amelie. There’s milk and something I don’t look too closely at on the towel over her shoulder. She looks exhausted and beautiful, and I just want to carry her upstairs and hold her in our bed.

“Luna has worked too hard to get where she is,” I say quietly. “I will not let you disrupt her peace again.”

Chloe’s face crumples. The crocodile tears start to flow like an open tap.

“Isaac, I didn’t mean—”

“Why do you do this?” I ask.

My own voice sounds calm to my ears, even though I am so, so angry.

“Why do you keep fucking things up for people who cared about you?”

She recoils like I hit her.

“For my mum?” I continue. “For me?” A bitter laugh leaves me. “God, Chloe … You knew exactly what I was thinking back then, didn’t you?” Her face changes slightly. “And you played the victim so well.”

“No—”

“All this time,” I cut her off, “I thought I was the problem. I thought I’d hurt you.”

The disgust I feel nearly chokes me.

“At least, if we’d actually slept together, the guilt would’ve made sense.”

“Isaac—”

The words I have suppressed and pushed down until I thought I couldn't breathe burst out. And once I got started, there was no stemming the tide. About how she trapped me, about how she cheated, about how she almost ruined my entire career and life. It was cathartic.

“My first mistake,” I say coldly, “was agreeing to help you after your breakup because Mum asked me to.”

I laugh again, sharp and humourless.

“I remember thinking she was insane. Why should I be the one helping my ex?” My eyes lock onto hers. “But you knew exactly how to manipulate my mother, and through her, manipulate me.”

“That’s not fair—”

“I’m not your puppet anymore. Or hers.”

She swallows thickly. “Those messages”—here comes the blackmail—“mean nothing,” I cut in immediately. “Just noise. And Luna has seen every single one of them, so don’t even try spinning this into something else.”

Chloe pales.

For a long moment, I just stare at her. And beneath my anger, beneath my disgust, there is confusion.

Genuine confusion.

“What is wrong with you?” I ask, because I want to know.

“You have amazing parents who adore you. My mum loves you more than she loves me.” I shake my head slowly. “So why?” I ask. “Why try to take Luna from me?”

My voice is shaking because I came so close to losing it all.