chapter 4

That night, Daniel called again and again. I didn't answer a single one.

At one in the morning, my screen lit up with a text from him: You were completely out of line today. You scared Leo half to death.

Looking at those words, I felt strangely calm. Not even a ripple.

As soon as it was light, I packed up all the documents I'd gathered and sent them to a lawyer.

At nine, the HR manager from the company I'd interviewed with called.

"I'm sorry. We've already filled that position."

"Didn't you say you'd schedule a second interview for today?"

She paused, and her tone turned strictly professional. "After a thorough review, we've decided you're not quite the right fit for the role."

Just before she hung up, I heard someone near her say in a low voice, "That's the psycho who crashed the birthday party."

I stood on the balcony. My hands and feet went cold.

Not long after, someone posted a video on our neighborhood forum.

It only showed the part where I burst into the room and shouted that I was Daniel's wife.

The caption read: Unhinged homewrecker gets exposed by the actual wife, then trashes her birthday party.

The comments underneath were vile.

You can tell she's never worked a day in her life. Some man pays for everything.

So nasty. She knew the woman had a heart condition and went after her anyway.

When I finished reading, I called Daniel.

He picked up quickly. He even sounded relieved. "You're finally talking to me."

"Did you let someone post that video?"

He was silent for a beat.

I understood immediately. "And my job. You killed that too?"

"I just gave their HR a heads-up that you're extremely emotionally unstable right now and not in a good place to start a new job."

I laughed, and my eyes stung. "How thoughtful of you."

"Claire, come home first. Let's sit down and talk this through."

"Talk about what?"

"Go to the hospital and apologize to Vivian. If you do that, I can still make this go away."

I almost thought I'd heard him wrong. "I apologize to her?"

"She ended up in the hospital last night because of you. And Leo was really shaken."

I held the phone and asked him, "And what about me?"

The line went dead silent.

I kept going. "You threw wine in my face. Your friends ganged up on me. Who's apologizing to me?"

At last, impatience broke through in his voice. "Well, who started it?"

I hung up.

I took the stack of documents and went to the school first.

When Leo's school counselor saw me, she looked visibly uncomfortable.

I set a letter on her desk. "From now on, anything to do with Leo at school, please contact his father directly."

She stared at me. "Ma'am, are you..."

"We're getting divorced."

She fell silent.

After I left the school, I went home and packed.

There wasn't much that was actually mine. It didn't even fill one suitcase.

At the very bottom of the closet was a photo of Leo just after he was born.

I'd had a C-section. The incision hurt so much I couldn't sleep at night, but I still held him the whole time. I didn't dare let go.

Daniel had held my hand back then and said, "Claire, thank you. I know how hard that was."

I looked at the photo for a long time. Then I threw it away.

At four in the afternoon, I laid the signed divorce agreement on the dining table, side by side with a visitation agreement naming Daniel as Leo's primary guardian.

Just before I left, my mom called. "Your ticket's booked. Nine thirty tonight."

"Okay."

At the airport, Daniel was still calling nonstop.

I turned off my phone.

As the plane lifted off, I watched the rows of lights slip away below, and suddenly I felt like I'd spent all these years living as a joke.

A little after ten that night, Daniel and Leo got home.

They walked in and called my name out of habit. Nobody answered.

Leo ran into the master bedroom, saw the half-empty closet, and panicked.

Daniel went to the dining table, opened the two documents, and slowly went pale.

Divorce agreement.

Custody and visitation agreement.

He called me immediately. All he got was the cold message that my phone was switched off.

Leo held the papers and cried so hard he couldn't finish a sentence.

"Dad... did Mom... does Mom not want me anymore?"