ture on my phone. A flicker of annoyance crossed his

t. It's not what

ent our daughter's birthday playing happy family with your ex-g

e console table with a clatter. "Scarlett's a single mom, she's

out your responsibility to your wife? To your daughter? You mi

t Lily's preschool graduation. You had a 'last-minute meeting.' Or her dance recital, when you were 'stuck in traffic' but som

dened. "That

little girl who was bragging about all the things he buys her. What's not fair is me finding a rec

is talking about it, Mark. 'Tech Mogul Rekindles Romance.' It's

well. It was the precursor to him shutting down. "Look, I'm sorr

ymore," I said flatly. "Your word

A divorce?" The word hung

s," I said, the word tasting like ash. "Maybe that's exactly what I want. At least then Lily wouldn't have to live wit

t a divorce," he said quickly, his tone shifting from defensive to pleading. "Ava, listen to

trying to reach for m

ure I believed. "Her ex left her with nothing. She was struggling. I felt... obligated. A sense of duty. That's

part of me, the part that still remembered the man I married, wanted to believe it. But the

voice trembling slightly. "But I can't live

ready to walk away with nothing, to let him off

solve. "You say it's just a sense of duty. Yo

t me, confu

faithful, or if you continue to prioritize Scarlett and her daughter over your own family, I get everything. The house, controll

lence. I held his gaze, unblinki

e hum of the refrigerator. I expected hi

able. He thought this was just about money, about security. He thought he could buy my comp

. I stood rigid in his arms, feeling no com

"It's you and Lily. It's always been you an

endured. It was a temporary truce, a fragile peace bought with a legal document. But

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