Chapter 1

My due date was any day now.

My husband, Ethan, had promised to stay home with me tonight. Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed his car keys.

"I'm going over to Vanessa's tonight to watch her kid. She has to work late."

I stared at him, stunned.

"I could go into labor any minute. There's no one else here. You're going to leave me alone to go to your ex-girlfriend's?"

He glanced at my belly, clearly annoyed.

"I told you ahead of time, didn't I? What more do you want? Don't make it into something dirty."

The door slammed shut.

And that night, of all nights, my water broke.

Every call I made to him went straight to voicemail.

Meanwhile, Vanessa's Instagram stories kept updating with pictures of him playing with her little girl.

I got through labor alone.

But the moment my heart truly died came a few days later.

A car lost control and crashed into a restaurant. He grabbed his ex and her child and ran, leaving me and our baby in the wreckage.

That's it. This marriage is over.

————

When Ethan said, "I have to go over to Vanessa's tonight," it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the dining room.

I looked down at the lasagna gone cold on my plate. I'd lost count of how many times this made.

Vanessa was his ex-girlfriend. Now she was a divorced single mom with a daughter.

Her ex-husband had been violent. During the divorce, Ethan was the one who found her a lawyer and went with her to get the restraining order.

Ever since, when Vanessa's pipes leaked, Ethan went to fix them. When no one could pick up Mia from school, Ethan went to get her. When Vanessa had a fever and couldn't get out of bed, it was Ethan who brought her medicine and soup.

I put down my fork and tried to keep my voice from sounding like I was picking a fight.

"Are there no plumbers left in Cedar Bay?"

Ethan glanced up at me, his face blank, as if I'd asked a completely pointless question.

"Mia gets out of school at three. You can pick her up once or twice, sure, but could you do it every day?"

"If she's sick, can't she call an Uber to the hospital? Do you really have to go to her house and take care of her?"

Ethan pulled a napkin from the holder and wiped his mouth, taking his time.

"She's raising a kid on her own. If I can help, I help."

"You're a woman too. Why can't you have a little empathy?"

"Besides, when have I ever not told you ahead of time? It's not like I'm sneaking around behind your back."

When we first got together, we'd made a rule: wherever he went, whoever he saw, whenever he'd be home, he'd tell me ahead of time.

Back then I thought it was the most reassuring promise in the world. I knew his phone passcode. He never went quiet when he was out. He'd text me even when he stopped for gas.

My friends all said a man like Ethan was practically an endangered species, and when you found one, you held on tight.

But now that "heads-up" was like a stamped permission slip.

He went openly, he told me openly, and then he openly left me home alone.

Ethan got up and took his jacket from the coat rack in the entryway. At the door, he looked back at me as if he'd just remembered something.

"If anything actually happens, call me."

The door shut.

With a bang. The house went so quiet I could hear the hum of the refrigerator.

I sat at the table, my hands trembling a little, and opened Instagram anyway.

Vanessa had posted a new story. Three minutes ago.

In the photo, Mia was hugging an old pillow, her eyes red. The caption read: This little one keeps asking for Daddy Ethan. I've been trying to get her to sleep forever and she just won't.

I stared at the words Daddy Ethan. My stomach turned over, and a sharp pain stabbed through my belly too.

I took a screenshot of the story and sent it to Ethan.

He answered quickly. Don't read into it. Vanessa got off work early today, but Mia's been begging to see me. I'll just check on her and come right back.

My eyes burned. It felt like someone had grabbed my heart and squeezed. I was angry and hurt, the baby gave me a hard kick, and the tears spilled over.

Just then, an iMessage from Vanessa popped up.

Nora, sorry for borrowing Ethan again. Nothing I can do, Mia keeps asking for her dad. Guess you'll just have to put up with it.

The smugness was right there in every word, and a sudden cramp tore through my lower body.

I held on to the edge of the table and stood up, and I felt a gush of warmth run down my legs.

My water had broken.

My mind went blank. I was completely panicked.

My parents lived far away, hours by car.

With shaking hands, I called 911, then I called Ethan.

He picked up after two rings.

"Ethan... my water broke..."

My voice was shaking so badly I could barely get the words out. But the first thing out of Ethan's mouth was irritation.

"I just walked out the door and now you're going into labor? Nora, I told you, I'm just going to see Mia for a minute. Can you stop with this, please? I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

He hung up.

I called again. Busy. Again. Busy. Again, and he just didn't answer.

I sat on the floor, shaking all over from the pain, barely able to stand.

As my phone screen went dark, it reflected my ghost-white face. It even scared me.

Twenty minutes later, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics helped me in and asked if there was any family who could ride along to the hospital.

I opened my mouth and said, "He'll be there soon."

At the hospital, the nurse frowned as she examined me.

"Where's your emergency contact? Have him come fill out the admission paperwork."

I looked down at my phone.

In the past hour and a half, Vanessa had posted two more stories.

One was a picture of Ethan and Mia, Mia riding on his shoulders and laughing. The other was a selfie of the three of them on the couch, Vanessa leaning on Ethan's shoulder. The caption was just a heart emoji.

None of the texts I'd sent Ethan had gotten a single reply.

The nurse asked if I had a friend who could come stay with me.

I gave a bitter smile and shook my head.

"He's... busy."

The nurse looked at me, unable to hide the sympathy in her eyes, and softened her voice. "Then lie back for now. Press the button if you need anything."

I called Ethan twice more. He didn't answer either time.

I set my phone face-down by the bed and closed my eyes.

Forget it.

Forget all of it, this marriage included.