Chapter 2

I thought we’d continue living that way indefinitely—quietly, without excitement, but also without turmoil.

Then, a few weeks ago, everything changed.

Summer got divorced and announced she was moving back to the country.

The moment Ethan found out, it was like a switch flipped inside him. He became a man possessed. If it hadn’t been for his work commitments, I knew he would’ve been on the first flight out to see her.

I watched in stunned silence as he transformed before my eyes.

The man who had always been so composed and distant suddenly had the wide-eyed excitement of a teenager. He had no hesitation, no shame. Right in front of me, he picked up his phone and called her.

I sat there as he asked her one question after another, his voice trembling with excitement.

They made plans to meet the moment she returned.

When he hung up, he turned to me, his eyes bright with an almost childlike glee.

“Annie,” he said, “Summer’s coming back. Let’s get divorced.”

He was so eager, so casual, as though I weren’t his wife, as though I were just some placeholder to keep him company while she was gone.

Now that the woman he truly loved had returned, I was nothing more than an obstacle.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. For the first time in years, I lost my temper.

We fought.

In all our time together, we’d never raised our voices at each other. But that day, I screamed, cried, and begged.

By the end of it, Ethan was ice-cold. He didn’t look at me as he snapped, “Thursday. Courthouse. Don’t be late.”

Then he slammed the door behind him, leaving me alone with the pieces of my broken heart.

That night, I cried until I couldn’t breathe.

When the tears finally stopped, regret set in.

I called him over and over, desperate to take it all back, to apologize, to ask him to stay.

But he didn’t answer.

When I tried again the next day, I realized he had blocked me.

For days, I didn’t see him. Not at home. Not anywhere.

Finally, Thursday came.

I hesitated for hours, debating whether or not to go.

I didn’t want to divorce him. I wanted one more chance to talk to him, to convince him to stay.

But the courthouse was the only place I could be sure to find him.

I had no other choice.