The next part would be delicate. In the old timeline, it was Arthur who first uncovered the affair that has been festering their family for years. He was seventeen and about to go to university. Angry. Protective. He had idolized their mom and resented their dad deeply afterward.
Ashley remembered finding him crying in the garage with Ryan's phone in his hand. He had never been the same.
Now, he is thirteen. And he still looked at their parents like they were unbreakable. Ashley didn't want him to carry that burden again.
She decided it would be her job this time.
That night, Ashley snuck into the study and found Ryan's work planner on the desk. She flipped through the pages. A few meetings lined up with the dates she remembered. There was even a note – "M. dinner – 7 PM." Her stomach turned.
Michelle.
Ashley returned the book carefully and sat in the dark, heart hammering.
She couldn't confront her father yet – surely, he'd lie. But she could prepare her mother.
The opportunity came on a rainy afternoon when Helen was folding laundry. Anthea was napping on the couch, and Arthur had his headphones in.
Ashley sat down and gently said, "Mom, if… if you ever felt like something was off with Dad, would you talk to someone about it?"
Helen froze mid-fold. "What do you mean?"
"Just… if he wasn't acting right. Or if he wasn't being fair."
Helen stared at the towel in her hands for a long time.
"I'd want to know," she said quietly.
"Promise me you'd protect yourself, and just not think of us no matter what" Ashley said.
Helen looked up, eyes clouded with something deep and quiet. "Ashley… what are you not telling me?"
Ashley couldn't say it – not yet.
"I just want you to be ready. Just in case."
Helen nodded slowly. "I will."
That night, Helen looked at Ryan differently when he walked through the door an hour late, his tie loosened, rain in his hair.
Ashley watched from the staircase.
The seed had been planted.
This time, Helen wouldn't be blindsided.