I stayed up until Barbara came home.

I had enough to do anyway, especially after taking the afternoon off work. There were several emails waiting for me in my inbox after I tucked the girls in, and I had papers to file through that couldn’t wait. I was deep in thought, my mind firmly on work when I heard her unlocking the front door.

There was no need for me to go and greet her. I was sure she’d come check on me herself.

And my suspicions were correct. I heard her walking up the stairs not two minutes later.

She didn’t knock, of course, instead choosing to barge into my study and glare at me with a stare so vicious I was almost concerned.

“Can I help you, darling?” I asked her sarcastically, and it only took her a second to huff and puff, rolling her eyes dramatically.

I pointedly ignored it, and instead chose to anger her further, because I was a fucking dick and I couldn’t help myself.

“My day was great, how about yours?” I asked, knowing full well I was angering the beast and only making things worse for myself. “Your daughters are doing well too, thank you for asking. They’ve had a busy day but I took care of them since their mother didn’t bother to show.”

“How dare you,” Barbara snarled at me. “Those girls mean everything to me.”

“Well, at least one of them does,” I said cheerfully, pushing back my office chair and walking in front of my desk, leaning back against it. “Because you know you can use Amanda to your advantage, twisting her this way and that until you get what you want, don’t you, Barbara?”

“You’re a fucking jackass, Levi,” she said, and we glared at one another, both knowing what I’d said was the truth.

“Maybe so, but it doesn’t change the facts,” I said easily.

When she frowned, unattractive lines formed on her face, making her look much older than she was.

When I met Barbara Violet, she was a beautiful woman. Striking, confident and with a laugh you could hear from a block away, she was mesmerizing and stunning. But now, I saw nothing but a washed-up woman filled with fake confidence and bad intentions. She used anything and everything within her reach to get what she wanted, and she didn’t think twice about hurting anyone who stood in her way. She was pathetic.

Not for the first time, I felt sorry for Barbara’s daughters.

“You’re not going to make a fool of me in my own house,” she said, glaring at me again. “I’m not going to stand for it.”

I laughed out loud. She was fucking ridiculous. This whole marriage had been a sham, a damn farce from the beginning.

“You mean the house I’ve been paying for?” I reminded her. “The house that had a mortgage so damn big you were worried you’d lose it until I came along? A house so fucking big you could never afford it without my money pouring in.”

She seemed to consider my words, and I watched her expression soften as she realized I was right, and she couldn’t go on blaming me for everything forever. Not if she wanted to milk me for all I was worth, at least.

“Levi,” she said placatingly. “Why can’t we talk normally? Like we used to, when we first met. Do you remember that? Do you remember how well we got along? The good times we had together. Hadn’t that been great, Levi?”

I remembered those times, sure as hell I did. It was all fucking. Her body entangled with mine, her breaths mixing with my own, her moans echoing mine. It was all this ever should have been – but instead we dragged out the affair until it made no sense, until we’d grown to hate each other more than we’d ever cared.

I didn’t give a shit about Barbara Violet anymore. I couldn’t care less about her. But her daughters… Yes, I had a soft spot for both of them.

Not just sweet, baby girl Kendall who seemed so obviously to need my protection. I cared about Amanda too, Amanda who was so like her mother it frightened me sometimes. But I wouldn’t hold it against her. After spending eighteen years in her mother’s care, always trying to please her and get her attention, she was bound to be like that. But I’d make sure to rid her of her dependency on Barbara. I’d make sure to make Mandy her own person, not constantly starved for her mother’s approval.

I realized then and there every plan I had for the future involved both Kendall and Amanda.

I could leave Barbara, but I could never leave those girls. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I had to admit I’d mostly stayed with Barbara just because of her daughters. I truly cared about both of them, and I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them behind with their wreck of a mother. She was only going to use them if I did that, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened.

“Barbara,” I said, the tiredness obvious in my voice. “Why don’t we put this to rest. Let’s just go to bed. Let’s not argue tonight.”

“Okay,” she said simply, surprising me with the way she gave in so easily.

But when I looked up I understood why she had, and I stared at her as she licked her lips hungrily, tossing her mane of caramel-colored hair behind her shoulder. I paid for that hair too, every two weeks at the most expensive hairdresser in town. Barbara made sure to pay it out of our joint account, her own credit cards probably already maxed out on designer handbags and drinks around town.

“Levi,” she said, giving me a hungry look. “Let’s not pretend anymore. Sure, things aren’t what they used to be, but this attraction between us is real. I know you feel it, because I do too. And I know you’re hungry for me.”

My eyebrows shot up, but before I could say a word, she raised her hand at me and grinned like the cat that got the cream.

“I know you still want me,” she said, and then she started unbuttoning her pink blouse.

Button by button, she revealed more skin, staring at me intently as she did so. A wave of nausea washed over me as I realized once and for all that things between me and Barbara Violet were well and truly over. I felt no attraction for the woman, and it wasn’t because of her age or her appearance. It was her vicious personality that was turning me off.

“Barbara,” I said calmly, taking a step towards her with my arms outstretched.

The moment I did, I realized my mistake, knowing right away that she saw it as a sign of compliance. She thought I was going to sleep with her when really all I wanted to do was tell her it was all over.

She dashed into my arms and I stood there awkwardly, my whole body tense while she waited for me to give in to a passion I didn’t feel anymore.

“Barbara,” I said again, muttering against her hair thick with hairspray. “Please, look up at me.”

She did, her eyes hungry and filled with lust as they zeroed in on mine.

“Barbara, it’s over,” I told her softly, keeping my voice as gentle but as firm as I possibly could. “I’m going to move out. I can’t keep up this farce, this damn charade.”

She pulled away from me and I found myself scrambling for words, which had never happened to me before.

“We can’t keep going like this, darling,” I told her gently. “I’m sure you understand. We’ve been sleeping around on one another, our marriage is a sham and we both know it. Listen, Barbara, I’ll even let you have the money.”

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish’s, her blouse hanging half open and revealing the swell of her plump breasts. She was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about it. But was she the woman for me?

No, she wasn’t. I felt more attracted to Kendall than I ever had to her mother, and the mere thought of the young girl only a few doors down the hallway filled me with need and lust that Barbara had never awakened in me.

“You don’t want to fuck me?” Barbara asked crudely, and I looked away, unable to handle the scrutiny of her gaze.

“Now, don’t take this personally,” I told her gently. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Only everything,” she muttered.

I risked a look at her.

Standing there, she looked more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her. She was shivering, her body half-exposed, the shirt unbuttoned and showing off her beautiful, still toned and taut body. But I felt nothing, nothing but regret that I’d ever taken her to bed. I couldn’t bring myself to feel pity for her after everything she’d done, but apart from a soft memory of what could have been, there was nothing there anymore.

“I’m going to go,” I said, reaching out for her to give her one last hug.

I didn’t stop to think what this would mean for Kendall and me.

When I fucking wanted something, I got it one way or another, and Kenny wasn’t going to be away from me for much longer, because I wanted her more than anything else in my life, and I’d make sure she was at my feet, worshipping me like she should be.

“Don’t touch me,” Barbara hissed. “Don’t you fucking dare touch me.”

“Barbara…” I said calmly, but she wasn’t having any of it.

She pulled her blouse over her breasts furiously. I’d seen this happen before, but I had no choice. I couldn’t sleep with her anymore. The mere thought was disgusting, especially now that I was lusting after Kendall. I could never bear the touch of her mother again.

“Get out of my house,” she snarled, covering up. “I don’t want to see you ever again.”

“Let’s not wake up the girls,” I said. “Let’s just do this calmly.”

“Fuck you,” she growled in response. “You always thought you knew better than me, didn’t you, Levi? You think you know what’s good for my girls but you don’t have a fucking clue, and I’m not letting you blame me for this fucking mess, too.”

I didn’t tell her I didn’t have to blame her for anything. Her daughters were bright enough to work it out for themselves.

She practically threw me out of the study.

Once I walked out into the hallway, she really started shouting.

I saw the girls peeking out from their rooms, Amanda’s eyes big and round, Kendall’s brimming with tears. I gave them both reassuring smiles, winking at Mandy and trying to convey more than I possibly could to Kendall with my eyes.

But it only pissed Barbara off more.

“Get the fuck out, you bastard,” she snarled at me. “I don’t want to see you ever again.”

“I’ll stay in touch,” I told the girls, and Kendall raised a hand over her mouth, sobbing openly.

“You little bitch,” her mother told her. “You’re going to take his side?”

“Leave her out of this,” I told Barbara roughly. “Don’t you fucking dare drag her into our issues.”

“Leave!” Barbara shouted, and I stared at Kendall for a long second before descending the stairs.

“I won’t disappear,” I shouted upstairs, hoping Kendall and Mandy believed me. “Girls, I won’t disappear. I fucking promise you that.”

I slammed the door shut and walked away from it all.