**Diary Entry 10th September**
“Natalie, I wont stay with your son another dayyou can tell him that,” Emily said, her voice steady.
Natalie scoffed. “And wholl take you on, then? A single mother with a child? I dont see any princes queuing up at your door.”
Emily packed her daughters things methodicallya warm jumper for Sophie, tick. Shoes, tick. Her own bag was already by the door. She hadnt slept last night, but the decision was clear: she and Daniel had to separate.
She heard him come home late, stumbling into their bedroom, then peering into Sophies room. Emily pretended to sleep. In the morning, Daniel hovered at the door, shifting his weight, but didnt dare come in. Hed put off the conversation for later.
But thered be no conversation. In half an hour, Emily would call a taxi and leave with two-year-old Sophie for her parents house. After last night, she couldnt bear to look at him.
Shed grown used to his Friday-night benders, but last night was a Wednesday. Worse, shed asked him to come home early to watch Sophie while she met her friend Lucywhod promised to find her remote work. Seeing him drunk, shed cancelled.
Daniel had sneered. “Who you calling? What meeting?”
“Lucy. I cant leave Sophie with you like this.”
“Why not?”
“Look at yourself. Sober upyouve work tomorrow.” She turned toward the kitchen.
“Stop!” He grabbed her wrist. “Whats wrong with me, eh? Had a few pints with the ladsVinces birthday. Think youre a princess? Ill come home how I like!”
She yanked free. “Youre hurting me! Have you lost your mind?”
He staggered, thenbefore he could stop himselfhis fist struck her nose.
Emily clutched her face. Daniel looked stunned, but she walked away without a word.
“Princess,” he muttered before slamming the door.
That wordhis mothers favourite jab. Natalie had despised Emily from the start. “Twenty-one and still leeching off her parents. Studying! At her age, I had one child and another on the way. A real woman keeps a home!”
Emilys parents hadnt liked Daniel either. “Slow down, love. Hes not the last man on earth. Live together firstthough I dont approve. But marriage? Look at his family. Then decide.”
Shed decided wrong. Within six months, she knew. But prideand the baby on the waykept her there.
Sophies birth changed nothing. To Daniel, chores and childcare were “her job.” No excusesnot illness, not a teething toddler. “Other women manage! Youre just lazy.”
The rose-tinted glasses shattered long ago. Her mother had been rightshe shouldve looked harder at his family.
Shed almost left twice. Daniel swore hed change. Shed believed him. But last nightthe first time hed raised a handwas the last.
Yes, facing her parents was humiliating. But staying with a man whod hit her? Unthinkable. Worse, letting Sophie grow up watching it.
Her mother spotted the taxi from the window. “John, Emilys herewith bags. Help her.”
Inside, Emily removed her sunglasses. Her left eye was swollen, purple.
“Daniel did this?!” her mother gasped.
Emily nodded.
“Ill sort him,” her father growled.
“No, Dad. Ill punish him my way. Just help me get Sophies crib and our things.”
Her father and uncle retrieved their belongings. Then, the trip to A&E.
“An assault charge needs a forensic report,” her uncle advised.
“Well book it tomorrow,” her father said.
Daniel came home to an empty flatno wife, no child, no crib. He called, but Emilys phone was off. Her mother answered his second call: “Shes here. Dont comemy husbands fists are itching. Shell file for divorce.”
He tried ambushing her outside her parents, but she ignored him.
A week later, divorce papers arrived. Then, the final siege: Natalie at the gate.
“I wont speak to her,” Emily said.
“You should,” her mother urged. “End this properly.”
Natalie launched in. “Divorcing over a little slap? You provoked him! Men drinkwise women wait it out.”
“He hit me.”
“And youll raise Sophie alone? Whod want you now?”
“Ill manage.”
“Then dont expect his flat or maintenance!”
“I dont want the flat. But Ill take him to court for child support.”
She did. The divorce was swiftmedical evidence sealed it. Daniel was ordered to pay maintenance, plus £400 monthly until Sophie turned three.
Five years later, on Sophies first day of school, Emily stood with her parents, waiting.
“Will Daddy come?” Sophie asked.
“Hell be here,” Emily said. Then, spotting a tall man in the crowd, she wavedbut it wasnt Daniel.
Three years ago, shed married James, a colleague. Now, they expected their own child.
Daniel remained alone. Thered been women, but word always spreadwhy his first wife left. Their town was small. And his nickname, “Punch-Drunk Danny,” stuck.
Maybe someday, a woman would overlook it. But not yet.
The boomerang always comes back. Believe it or not.
