Just a packet of legal documents left at the reception desk of my office in Chicago, Illinois, with a small yellow sticky note attached to the front page that read in neat handwriting, “Please don’t make this difficult.”
That was Matthew Collins. He always stayed calm when he was being cruel, and the calmness made everything worse because it allowed him to act like nothing terrible had happened. The divorce itself was not the only shock, because what Matthew truly wanted was complete control over everything we had built during our marriage, especially custody of our ten year old daughter, Olivia Collins, who had been the center of my world since the day she was born.
In his official filing he described me with words that sounded clinical and damaging at the same time. According to his documents I was unstable, financially reckless, and emotionally volatile. According to him he was the exact opposite, a stable and responsible parent who provided structure and guidance. Because he wore expensive suits, spoke in a controlled tone, and kept his voice soft and reasonable during every conversation, people often believed him before they ever heard my side of the story.