Then he revealed something even worse.
On the morning Ava died, he had picked Lauren up before taking Ava to daycare.
Lauren had brought drinks from a nearby café—coffee for Mark and a smoothie for Ava.
“What kind of smoothie?” I asked.
“Strawberry banana,” he replied.
My stomach tightened.
Ava had a serious dairy allergy.
Everyone close to us knew that.
Lauren didn’t.
Mark had never told her.
The smoothie contained dairy products.
In that moment, everything became clear.
Ava’s death wasn’t caused by some mysterious medical event.
It happened because my husband was distracted by his affair and failed to protect our daughter.
He had handed her a drink without checking it.
A drink that triggered the allergic reaction that took her life.
Even worse, instead of telling me the truth immediately, he had tried to keep everything hidden.
The funeral arrangements.
The rushed explanations.
