The Divorce Chapter 74 Epilogue: Jeremy's Dark Confession

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The epilogue is narrated entirely by Jeremy. He reflects on losing everything—Veronica and Teddy—to the house fire set by Naomi. He then recounts a past meeting with Clay Barkley, who claimed that Naomi stole his infant son, Dominic, two years earlier. Clay showed Jeremy a pink gemstone from his car with Naomi’s crystal-healing logo, which led him to the Roth family. Despite an initial paternity test showing Jeremy as Teddy’s father, Jeremy secretly retested and learned Teddy is not his biological child. To prevent Clay from taking Teddy, Jeremy used his connections to orchestrate Clay’s death, staged as a heroin overdose.

Jeremy then reveals his long-term plan: to eliminate Naomi, the only other person who knew the truth. He manipulated the divorce by feeding her incorrect schedules, hiring Rosita to undermine her reliability, and planting a knife-embedded elephant in Teddy’s drawer. He even poisoned Naomi’s kombucha with crushed Tylenol (which failed to kill her). After Naomi’s arrest following the birthday-party incident, Jeremy planned to eventually stage her suicide. The fire accomplishes his goal: Naomi dies in the cellar. Jeremy concludes that anyone who tries to take his son will suffer the same fate.

Key Events

• Jeremy admits to meeting Clay Barkley, who claimed Naomi stole his baby.
• Clay presented a pink gemstone with Naomi’s crystal logo, leading him to Jeremy.
• A secret paternity test confirmed Teddy is not Jeremy’s biological son.
• Jeremy orchestrated Clay’s death by heroin overdose to prevent him from reclaiming Teddy.
• Jeremy details his campaign to make Naomi appear unstable during the divorce: giving wrong times, hiring Rosita, planting evidence.
• Jeremy poisoned Naomi’s kombucha with Tylenol, but the attempt failed.
• After Naomi dies in the house fire, Jeremy feels relieved and ready to start a life with Veronica.
• Jeremy vows to kill anyone else who tries to take Teddy from him.

Character Development

• Jeremy Roth: His confession exposes him as a cold, calculating murderer and gaslighter. He shows no remorse for killing Clay or planning Naomi’s death. His obsessive love for Teddy (whom he considers his son despite not being biological) motivates every ruthless action.
• Naomi: Although dead, the epilogue recasts her earlier erratic behavior as partly a reaction to Jeremy’s manipulation. Her paranoia and instability were real, but Jeremy actively exacerbated them.
• Ronnie (Veronica): She remains innocent and heroic—she rescued Teddy from the fire—but is completely unaware of Jeremy’s true nature.
• Clay Barkley: A tragic figure: a former drug addict who genuinely sought his son but was murdered before he could expose the truth.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

• Paternity and Identity: Jeremy’s decision to keep Teddy despite DNA evidence shows that biological ties matter less to him than the emotional bond. He kills to preserve his chosen family.
• Manipulation and Gaslighting: Jeremy systematically erodes Naomi’s credibility, making her seem unhinged to win custody. His methods—wrong times, planted evidence, hired help—demonstrate calculated abuse.
• Murder as Problem-Solving: Jeremy views killing Clay and planning Naomi’s suicide as logical steps to protect his interests. The epilogue turns him into a full-fledged villain.
• Crystal Motif: The pink gemstone, now a symbol of Naomi’s old hobby, becomes the clue that unravels the truth and triggers the entire plot.

Why This Chapter Matters

This epilogue upends the reader’s perception of the entire story. The earlier narrative suggested Naomi was the dangerous, unstable party, but Jeremy’s confession reveals that he is the true antagonist. It answers the question of how Teddy came to be with the Roths, explains Naomi’s paranoia, and justifies her extreme actions (like the fire) as responses to Jeremy’s abuse. It also provides closure on Clay Barkley’s fate, whose disappearance was left ambiguous. The chapter recontextualizes every prior event, forcing a reassessment of innocence and guilt.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Jeremy justify keeping Teddy despite knowing he is not his biological son? Jeremy considers Teddy his son regardless of genetics. He cannot bear the thought of losing him, comparing it to “amputating my arm.” He believes his emotional bond and years of raising Teddy outweigh blood ties, and he is willing to kill to maintain that bond.

2. What specific actions did Jeremy take to sabotage Naomi’s custody case? He deliberately gave Naomi wrong times for appointments, hired Rosita to portray her as unreliable, and planted the knife-embedded elephant in Teddy’s drawer to frame her as dangerous to the child. He also attempted to poison her with Tylenol-laced kombucha to make her death look like suicide.

3. How does the epilogue change our understanding of Naomi’s behavior throughout the novel? The epilogue shows that much of Naomi’s allegedly unhinged behavior was exacerbated or directly caused by Jeremy’s manipulation. Her panic about forgetting schedules, her suspicion of Rosita, and her fear of Jeremy all become credible in light of his confession. The fire, while extreme, can be seen as a desperate act by a woman cornered by a systematic abuser.