Chapter 1 - The Divorce on the Fortieth Floor
The divorce papers were waiting for me on the fortieth floor of a Seattle glass tower.
I was six months pregnant.
My ankles were swollen, my back hurt constantly, and every breath felt like my body was trying to make room for three tiny lives at once.
Across the conference table, my husband, Nathan Drake, looked perfect.
Black suit.
Silver watch.
No guilt in his eyes.
His attorney pushed the papers toward me and said, “Mrs. Bennett, these are the final terms.”
Final terms.
Such clean words for complete ruin.
I stared at Nathan.
“Five years,” I whispered. “Is this really how it ends?”
He did not even look up from his phone.
“Sign the papers, Ava.”
That was all.
No apology.
No explanation.
No trace of the man who once promised he would protect me from everything.
Then his phone lit up with a name I already knew.
Chloe.
The model.
The woman he had stopped hiding months ago because men like Nathan only feel shame when someone more powerful is watching.
I signed every page.
The apartment.
The accounts.
The car.
Everything.
When I finished, Nathan stood, adjusted his jacket, and paused beside me.
“I transferred some money into your account,” he said. “Don’t tell people I left you with nothing.”
May you like
Then he walked out to meet her.
Outside, Seattle rain hit the glass like the city itself was trying to warn me.
