{"id":5989,"date":"2026-02-22T08:32:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T08:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989"},"modified":"2026-02-22T08:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T08:32:47","slug":"divorce-didnt-just-take-my-marriage-it-took-my-family-my-place-at-the-table-even-the-way-people-said-my-name-i-thought-my-ex-was-the-villain-until-i-found-the-emails-i-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989","title":{"rendered":"Divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family, my place at the table, even the way people said my name. I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. Behind me, my mother\u2019s voice went tight: \u201cClose it.\u201d That\u2019s when I realized the divorce wasn\u2019t chaos. It was choreography\u2014and someone else was holding the strings."},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"28\" data-end=\"278\">The divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family membership card. My name is <strong data-start=\"115\" data-end=\"133\">Rachel Bennett<\/strong>, I\u2019m thirty-four, and the day the custody order became final, I realized how quickly people choose sides when choosing sides costs them nothing.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"280\" data-end=\"788\">My ex-husband <strong data-start=\"294\" data-end=\"302\">Evan<\/strong> got primary custody of our eight-year-old son, <strong data-start=\"350\" data-end=\"359\">Caleb<\/strong>, because he had the steadier schedule, the nicer house, and the smoother story. I got every other weekend and a calendar that felt like punishment. The worst part wasn\u2019t the judge. It was the way Evan\u2019s parents stopped answering my calls like I\u2019d become contagious. It was the way my own sister muted me on social media. It was the way my mother, <strong data-start=\"707\" data-end=\"724\">Diane Bennett<\/strong>, told me to \u201cbe graceful\u201d while I was bleeding out emotionally.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"790\" data-end=\"1031\">I moved into a small apartment outside Charlotte and tried to keep my world from shrinking into bitterness. I showed up for exchanges on time. I kept my voice calm. I smiled in public and cried in the shower where no one could screenshot it.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1033\" data-end=\"1380\">Three months after the divorce, Evan emailed me about \u201cclosing loose ends.\u201d He wanted me to sign a document regarding a retirement account split. The file link didn\u2019t load on my phone, so I borrowed my mom\u2019s laptop when I visited her for a quick Sunday lunch. Diane set a plate in front of me like we were normal and said, \u201cTry the chicken salad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1382\" data-end=\"1484\">I clicked Evan\u2019s link, logged into the shared portal, and the document opened instantly on her screen.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1486\" data-end=\"1521\">Except it wasn\u2019t just the document.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1523\" data-end=\"1642\">A side panel popped up\u2014recent activity, messages, and a thread labeled <strong data-start=\"1594\" data-end=\"1642\">\u201cStrategy \u2014 Keep Rachel Unstable Narrative.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1644\" data-end=\"1727\">My stomach dropped. I didn\u2019t mean to click it. My finger moved before my brain did.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1729\" data-end=\"1846\">There were emails. Lots of them. Evan and his attorney. And another address I recognized before I even processed why:<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1848\" data-end=\"1867\"><strong data-start=\"1848\" data-end=\"1867\">diane.bennett@\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1869\" data-end=\"1887\">My mother\u2019s email.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1889\" data-end=\"1952\">My hands started shaking. \u201cWhy is your name here?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1954\" data-end=\"2049\">From the kitchen doorway, Diane\u2019s voice went sharp and small at the same time: \u201cRachel\u2026 don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2051\" data-end=\"2069\">I scrolled anyway.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2071\" data-end=\"2133\">The subject line at the top of the thread made my vision blur:<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2135\" data-end=\"2206\"><strong data-start=\"2135\" data-end=\"2206\">\u201cRe: Caleb \u2014 final push before court. Rachel must not look stable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2208\" data-end=\"2262\">And under it, a message sent from my mother\u2019s account:<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2264\" data-end=\"2312\"><strong data-start=\"2264\" data-end=\"2312\">\u201cI can help. I know which buttons to press.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"2314\" data-end=\"2317\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"2319\" data-end=\"2346\">PART 2<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"2347\" data-end=\"2530\">I felt like the room tilted. The chicken salad sat untouched, suddenly disgusting. My mother stepped closer, hands half-raised like she could physically pull the words off the screen.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2532\" data-end=\"2596\">\u201cTell me this is fake,\u201d I said. My voice didn\u2019t sound like mine.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2598\" data-end=\"2671\">Diane\u2019s mouth opened and closed. No denial came out. That was the answer.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2673\" data-end=\"3117\">I scrolled with shaking fingers. There were notes about my therapy appointments\u2014dates I\u2019d told my mom in confidence. There were comments about my \u201cemotional episodes\u201d during the separation\u2014moments I\u2019d cried to her in her kitchen, begging her to just listen. There was a bullet list titled <strong data-start=\"2962\" data-end=\"2976\">\u201cTriggers\u201d<\/strong> with things only someone close to me would know: my fear of public embarrassment, my guilt about money, the way I shut down when confronted.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3119\" data-end=\"3155\">\u201cMom,\u201d I whispered, \u201cyou mapped me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3157\" data-end=\"3268\">Diane\u2019s eyes filled. \u201cI was trying to protect Caleb,\u201d she said fast. \u201cI thought Evan would give him stability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3270\" data-end=\"3300\">\u201cBy destroying me?\u201d I snapped.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3302\" data-end=\"3404\">Diane flinched like the word <em data-start=\"3331\" data-end=\"3343\">destroying<\/em> had never occurred to her. \u201cRachel, you were falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3406\" data-end=\"3518\">\u201cI was falling apart because my husband was leaving me,\u201d I said, voice rising. \u201cThat\u2019s a normal human reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3520\" data-end=\"3861\">The next email hit harder. It was an exchange between Evan\u2019s attorney and my mother: they discussed how to provoke me into texting \u201ctoo much\u201d right before court dates so Evan could screenshot it as evidence. They discussed delaying exchange times to make me late. They discussed baiting me at a school event so I\u2019d look \u201creactive\u201d in public.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3863\" data-end=\"3916\">My hands went numb. \u201cYou helped him push me,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3918\" data-end=\"4001\">Diane sobbed once, quietly. \u201cI thought if you stopped fighting, you\u2019d heal faster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4003\" data-end=\"4093\">I laughed, one sharp sound. \u201cSo you thought the best way to heal me was to take my child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4095\" data-end=\"4261\">Diane\u2019s face crumpled. \u201cI didn\u2019t think he\u2019d go for primary custody,\u201d she whispered. \u201cEvan said it was temporary. He said you\u2019d get more time once things calmed down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4263\" data-end=\"4348\">\u201cAnd you believed him,\u201d I said, staring. \u201cYou believed my ex over your own daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4350\" data-end=\"4454\">Diane wiped her cheeks. \u201cHe had a plan. He had a lawyer. He sounded\u2026 reasonable. And you sounded\u2026 hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4456\" data-end=\"4491\">Hurt. Like that made me unreliable.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4493\" data-end=\"4578\">My phone buzzed. A message from Evan: <strong data-start=\"4531\" data-end=\"4578\">\u201cDid you sign the document? Need it today.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4580\" data-end=\"4680\">I looked at the screen, then back at the email thread. \u201cHe knew I\u2019d use your laptop,\u201d I said slowly.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4682\" data-end=\"4712\">Diane went very still. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4714\" data-end=\"4859\">\u201cHe wanted me to find this,\u201d I said, and the realization tasted like metal. \u201cHe wanted me to explode. He wanted proof that I\u2019m \u2018unstable\u2019 again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4861\" data-end=\"4918\">Diane\u2019s breathing turned shallow. \u201cRachel, please don\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4920\" data-end=\"5078\">But it was too late. I\u2019d already taken screenshots. I\u2019d already forwarded them to myself. And I\u2019d already seen the last email in the thread\u2014sent two days ago:<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5080\" data-end=\"5188\"><strong data-start=\"5080\" data-end=\"5188\">\u201cOnce Rachel learns the truth, we\u2019ll offer \u2018supervised peace talks\u2019 and she\u2019ll accept. She always does.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5190\" data-end=\"5209\">My stomach flipped.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5211\" data-end=\"5257\">Because it wasn\u2019t just that my mom helped him.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5259\" data-end=\"5309\">It was that they were still planning my next move.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"5311\" data-end=\"5314\" \/>\n<h2 data-start=\"5316\" data-end=\"5343\">PART 3<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"5344\" data-end=\"5475\">I stood up slowly, like sudden movement might shatter what little control I had left. Diane reached for my arm, but I stepped back.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5477\" data-end=\"5542\">\u201cI\u2019m not doing peace talks,\u201d I said, calm enough to scare myself.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5544\" data-end=\"5592\">Diane\u2019s voice broke. \u201cRachel, I made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5594\" data-end=\"5654\">\u201cA mistake is forgetting milk,\u201d I said. \u201cThis was strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5656\" data-end=\"5962\">I walked to the front porch to breathe. The air was cold and sharp, and for the first time in months, my mind felt clear. Evan didn\u2019t just want custody\u2014he wanted narrative control. And my mother had handed him the perfect script: the emotional daughter, the reasonable father, the child \u201csaved\u201d from chaos.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5964\" data-end=\"6075\">Inside, Diane followed me like a shadow. \u201cWhat do you want me to do?\u201d she asked, tears streaking down her face.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6077\" data-end=\"6165\">\u201cThe truth,\u201d I said. \u201cIn writing. With dates. And you\u2019re going to stop talking to Evan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6167\" data-end=\"6205\">Diane nodded, desperate. \u201cOkay. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6207\" data-end=\"6474\">Back inside, I opened a new email and typed while she dictated. Every detail: how Evan approached her, what he promised, what she shared, what she witnessed. I had her sign it and send it to me from her account\u2014because words only matter if they can\u2019t be denied later.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6476\" data-end=\"6846\">Then I called my attorney. I didn\u2019t rant. I didn\u2019t cry. I said, \u201cI have evidence of collusion and manipulation related to custody proceedings, including a third party feeding sensitive information.\u201d My attorney\u2019s voice sharpened immediately. He told me to preserve everything, not contact Evan directly, and prepare for a formal motion and possible modification request.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6848\" data-end=\"6957\">That night, Evan called. I didn\u2019t answer. He texted again: <strong data-start=\"6907\" data-end=\"6957\">\u201cYou\u2019re making this harder than it has to be.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6959\" data-end=\"7177\">I stared at the message and finally understood the real puppet master wasn\u2019t just Evan or Diane. It was the system of pressure he\u2019d built\u2014using politeness, \u201creasonableness,\u201d and my own family\u2019s fear to make me smaller.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7179\" data-end=\"7420\">The next weekend, when I picked up Caleb, I didn\u2019t interrogate him. I didn\u2019t poison him against his dad. I just held him a little longer and said, \u201cI\u2019m here. Always.\u201d He looked up and asked, \u201cAre you mad at Grandma?\u201d and my throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7422\" data-end=\"7490\">\u201cI\u2019m figuring things out,\u201d I said. \u201cBut none of this is your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7492\" data-end=\"7686\">Diane asked to see Caleb the following week. I said no\u2014not out of spite, but out of boundaries. \u201cYou don\u2019t get access to my child while you\u2019re helping the person limiting my access,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7688\" data-end=\"7892\">I\u2019m not pretending this is easy. It hurts in a way that feels chemical. But for the first time since the divorce, I\u2019m not begging to be believed. I\u2019m building proof and rebuilding myself at the same time.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7894\" data-end=\"8259\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">If you were me, would you cut your mother off completely after a betrayal like this\u2014or keep limited contact if she cooperates with the legal process and truly owns what she did? Tell me what you\u2019d do, because I think a lot of people discover too late that the hardest part of a divorce isn\u2019t losing a spouse\u2026 it\u2019s realizing who else was quietly pulling the strings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family membership card. My name is Rachel Bennett, I\u2019m thirty-four, and the day the custody order became final, I realized how quickly people choose sides when choosing sides costs them nothing. My ex-husband Evan got primary custody of our eight-year-old son, Caleb, because he had the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-life-new"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family, my place at the table, even the way people said my name. I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. Behind me, my mother\u2019s voice went tight: \u201cClose it.\u201d That\u2019s when I realized the divorce wasn\u2019t chaos. It was choreography\u2014and someone else was holding the strings. - True Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family, my place at the table, even the way people said my name. I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. Behind me, my mother\u2019s voice went tight: \u201cClose it.\u201d That\u2019s when I realized the divorce wasn\u2019t chaos. 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I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. Behind me, my mother\u2019s voice went tight: \u201cClose it.\u201d That\u2019s when I realized the divorce wasn\u2019t chaos. It was choreography\u2014and someone else was holding the strings. - True Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family, my place at the table, even the way people said my name. I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. 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My ex-husband Evan got primary custody of our eight-year-old son, Caleb, because he had the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989","og_site_name":"True Stories","article_published_time":"2026-02-22T08:32:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":571,"height":1000,"url":"http:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ultrarealistic_cinematic_photo_202602221532.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"true love","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"true love","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989","url":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989","name":"Divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family, my place at the table, even the way people said my name. I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. Behind me, my mother\u2019s voice went tight: \u201cClose it.\u201d That\u2019s when I realized the divorce wasn\u2019t chaos. It was choreography\u2014and someone else was holding the strings. - True Stories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ultrarealistic_cinematic_photo_202602221532.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-22T08:32:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5c3397997033ec1244d0e345888afa8e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ultrarealistic_cinematic_photo_202602221532.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ultrarealistic_cinematic_photo_202602221532.jpg","width":571,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?p=5989#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Divorce didn\u2019t just take my marriage\u2014it took my family, my place at the table, even the way people said my name. I thought my ex was the villain\u2026 until I found the emails I was never supposed to see. \u201cWait\u2014why is your signature on this?\u201d I whispered, staring at the screen. Behind me, my mother\u2019s voice went tight: \u201cClose it.\u201d That\u2019s when I realized the divorce wasn\u2019t chaos. It was choreography\u2014and someone else was holding the strings."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/","name":"True Stories","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5c3397997033ec1244d0e345888afa8e","name":"true love","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7edec003db6c2d994c618a5c9257e4836d0823076211ef1f440ea5b2dfb07eb1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7edec003db6c2d994c618a5c9257e4836d0823076211ef1f440ea5b2dfb07eb1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"true love"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org"],"url":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5991,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989\/revisions\/5991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/true.lifestruepurpose.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}