Chapter 2

Eleanor

That evening, Arthur called.

"Eleanor, I'll be home late. Mason got sick..."

"Okay."

My quick answer caught him off guard. Whatever excuse he had prepared died in his throat. Thinking I was just giving him the silent treatment, his tone turned sharp.

"Eleanor, stop acting like a child."

He hung up.

Ten minutes later, my phone buzzed with three new texts.

[So sorry, Eleanor! Mason just refuses to let go of him lately.]

[But Arthur is terrible for just abandoning you and Lily the second I called.]

[I'll yell at him for you. Don't be mad! ��]

It was Chloe. These texts were not an apology. They were gloating.

I was too tired to play these high school games over a man. I deleted the thread and blocked her number without a second thought.

A few minutes later, Arthur called back.

"Eleanor, what is your problem? Chloe reaches out to apologize, and you just block her?"

Through the speaker, I could hear a woman and a child crying in the background.

I said nothing.

After a long, heavy pause, his voice dropped, dripping with cold judgment. "When did you become so bitter, Eleanor? I am incredibly disappointed in you."

She was the one provoking me. But the moment she shed a single tear, Arthur automatically made me the villain.

I put the phone down, walked into the bedroom, and started packing.

While Arthur had been yelling on the phone, I was already texting my lawyer. Given Arthur's documented absences, winning full custody of Lily was guaranteed. The settlement money meant nothing to me.

My last bit of hesitation was gone.

Clothes, jewelry, and Lily's favorite toys. I packed it all. But as I reached for the top closet shelf, my hand brushed against a dusty mahogany box.

Inside were dozens of letters. The handwritten promises of a seventeen-year-old Arthur Sterling.

I unfolded the top one.

[To a twenty-seven-year-old Eleanor. We're definitely married by now. Probably with a beautiful kid. I promise I will always put you first.]

My phone buzzed. It was twenty-seven-year-old Arthur.

"Eleanor! Chloe took Mason and left her house crying! What did you say to her?!" he roared through the receiver. "If anything happens to them out there, I swear to God I will never forgive you!"

He hung up.

My eyes dropped to the signature on the faded paper.

[Forever yours, Arthur.]

A sharp pain flared in my chest. Then, something inside me cleanly and irrevocably snapped.

I walked into the living room and threw the entire box into the roaring fireplace.