Chapter 16 - I Meet Octavia’s Ex-Husband
His name was Nathan Bell.
No scandal.
No abuse finding.
No custody battle relevant to us.
He agreed to speak privately because Octavia referenced their marriage in therapy and gave permission.
Nathan said:
“I was a bad husband.”
Direct.
“How?”
“I used my daughter as a veto.”
There.
“If Octavia wanted a trip and Maya didn’t, I said Maya comes first.”
“Did she?”
“Sometimes she was just sixteen and didn’t want to go.”
“Anything else?”
“I let Maya be rude.”
“Why?”
“Guilt after divorce.”
Sound familiar.
I almost laughed at myself.
Nathan continued:
“Octavia would complain, and I’d say she knew I had a daughter when she married me.”
There.
Sentence every stepparent fears.
“What happened?”
“Octavia started competing.”
“How?”
“Trying to make me prove she mattered.”
Exactly.
“She would schedule dinners on Maya’s school events?”
“Once.”
“Gifts?”
“Comparison.”
“Did she ever mistreat Maya?”
“Not physically. She could be cold.”
“Did Maya mistreat her?”
“Yes.”
Two adults remembering mutual failure.
Nathan said:
“By the end, every choice was a referendum.”
That word.
“Who matters more?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“Don’t make my mistake.”
“Which one?”
“Thinking the answer is always child.”
I bristled.
Then he added:
“The answer should be: why are we making love into a ranking question?”
There.
Nathan had learned too late for their marriage.
Maybe Octavia never had.
I asked:
“Did she tell you to choose?”
“Many times.”
“What did you do?”
“Usually chose Maya.”
He looked ashamed.
“Sometimes because Maya needed me. Sometimes because I wanted to win.”
There.
Power contest.
Octavia carried the wound.
Then recreated it with Juniper.
Not excuse.
May you like
History.
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