Take care,
Rob
Julia and Mike considered various options for starting anew, and then they purchased a colonial property two states away from their old home, which they left to Julia’s sister Schuyler. The thought of someone outside the family owning the house was something Julia couldn’t imagine. With the move, she gradually distanced herself from her side of the family. But one day, a familiar face appeared at her door.
It was her sister, Schuyler. She was visibly nervous and said the two needed to talk. At the time, Julia was ironing Mike’s shirts for his upcoming business trip, but Schuyler insisted she stopped whatever she was doing and urged her to check on Mike’s glasses case.
Julia opened the case, and found a phone. Her sister explained to her that it was a burner phone that Mike used to call Rob every month just to make sure he wasn’t returning home.
It turned out that Mike convinced Rob that his mom would be better off without him and sent him to live with an aunt from his father’s side.
Schuyler learned this when she received a wedding invitation addressed to Julia. Rob was getting married and despite Mike convinced him his mom didn’t want him to be part of her life, he still wanted her to be part of his wedding day.
Schuyler managed to contact him through the sender’s address on the wedding invitation and that’s when she learned that Mike contacted Rob without Julia being aware of it for over ten years.
“Look how much mom has to work to feed you,” Mike would tell Rob. “Wouldn’t it be nice if she spent that money on herself? Wouldn’t you like to release her of the burden that you are?” He suggested Rob leave the house and the poor kid complied, thinking his mom had no room for him in her life.
Julia used the burner phone to contact her son. She explained to him that she had no idea what Mike had done and that she never stopped looking for him.
Julia eventually divorced Mike, sold the property they purchased together, and bought a house next to Rob’s. She attended his wedding and is now a grandma of a beautiful boy.
