As most folks know, Chase and I had been together since we were 14 & 15 years old. We bought our first house in 2002, right before we got married at 19 & 20, because we saw a Little Nickle ad that said buy a house for $500 down. 

We started KPB in 2005 as a Billiard Service Company, and morphed into a pool hall/retail/deli by 2008. In 2012, the economy crashed so sold off the assets of the pool hall, found out we were having a baby girl, and started upcycling and refurbishing used tables in a tiny warehouse. We had our son in 2013 while continuing to sell used tables and do service work. By 2014 we moved to a bigger location in Bothell and eventually obtained a small storefront. In 2016 we moved to our current location in Woodinville which is where we planned on staying forever. In 2017 Chase started building a cabin for my mom on our property and we had 2 full time crews running the service work.

Everything was going great and the store was running but then Covid hit. We were fortunate to be considered a "Specialty Moving Company" and were able to remain in business. We were swamped with work, but also had two kids at home. Luckily we had a fantastic store manager at the time and she was able to handle both my job and hers. Chase never really returned to service work because he didnt need to. He was supposed to be helping with sales in the store and perfecting the methods our techs use out in the field and in customers' homes. When he was coming in, he preffered to chat with customers rather than learing the business inside and out. He didn't need to because he was always in "Service" and I handled all the "Office Stuff".

By 2021, our relationship had become rocky because he was doing whatever he wanted and I was trying to go to work but help my kids on Zoom all day for school. He told me I could go to work and he would stay with the kids, but he stayed outside all day and wasn't helping with their school work. I knew I had a great store manager so I took my kids' education as my first priority - that was brutal! July 24th 2021 was my 40th birthday, and even though I am not fond of that day usually, he didn'tn do or plan anything for me. I got upset and planned a girls trip with our store manager of 3 years, to Palm Springs for a week. I had never been anywhere in my life without Chase, and he didn't like the idea. There has never been infidelity between us in 25 years, he's just an incredibly jealous person. Within 2 days of being gone, Chase started accusing me of being places I wasn't, because he was tracking me on Google maps. He never went to work the week we were gone, and life spiraled out of control from there. He has a substance abuse problem that he will not accept and this time he went way over the edge. I don't want to say all the bad things that have happened because I prefer to focus on the good. 

Two weeks ago, after a two year battle of being harrassed, stalked, accused, and financially and mentally abused, I am happy to say I was divorced in a day. I had gone through two attorneys because he refused to respond to any requests, and I had to stand by myself (with my 2 witnesses), and tell all of the terrible things he has done from taking over 250k in cash in assets over the last 2 years, to refusing to get any help for his problems so that he can see his kids. He is in a bad place right now and I hope he can get the help he needs, but this has been ongoing throughout our lives and I can no longer justify his actions or fix his mistakes. In the divorce, I was awarded full ownership of the business dues to the amount of money he took (that I have proof of). Our kids live with me, and he is required by the court to get the help he needs.

I am looking for help everywhere I can, but I am so far behind I cannot take on  more than a little everyday. This experience has left me with physical and mental impairments that make it hard for me to work as efficient as I used to. The are real effects of Domestic Violence that happen to a lot of people. I can't feel my finger tips, my hands constantly shake, my anxiety make me want to puke every two hours, and not to mention my head feels like it will explode with all the things I am trying to fix and repair. The divorce is a huge weight lifted. Because we were so young, we grew up together and "Trauma Bonded". I didn't realize I was a victim of DV un this last July when my son recorded a video of his father verbally abusing his girlfriend. It shocked me and over the next month made me really assess how long I had been in a toxic relationship. It answered a lot of questions I had about why I wasn't happy. I realized I only ever tried to make him happy and put all my personal wants aside once I had kids. His substance abuse became way worse once we had kids and I had been through more than enough of his "recoveries" and decided I was tired of always being mad and angry. After a couple months of him being out of the house, I literally felt like I was statring to escape a cult. No one was going to tell me to change my clothes or tell me who I could talk to. No one would yell at me for getting hurt or for what other people said to me.

I've taken a lot of time to think about what to do, and I believe the best thing is to stop doing the same thing and expecting different results. I have decided to close the store and take the business online only for the time being. Last week, somebody stole my cue lathe all the cash in the drawer, and another 5k in cues and products. I'm done fighting for something I was essentially made to do. I am going to cut my losses and start from scratch. I've learned a lot except how to be happy and I have a  lot more to learn.