Chapter 2

From the very first time she showed up at David's side as a team member, she had made her hostility toward me crystal clear.

That evening, after Riley and the rest of the team left, I told David, "I don't like that new female teammate of yours."

And what did David say?

He gave me that affectionate look, tapped my nose, and teased, "What, jealous?"

I blinked. Jealous?

David looked at me with a smug grin. "She did tell me she had feelings for me, but I turned her down. I told her I love my wife and daughter, and I'd never betray my marriage."

He had said it like a joke, but I took every word seriously.

So I looked him dead in the eye. "I don't like her. Don't get too close."

"Okay, got it."

I practically drilled it into his head, and David swore up and down he understood.

"I promise I won't have any unnecessary contact with Riley."

After that, I didn't see Riley again.

Not until our anniversary, when David got a phone call and just left.

He didn't even bother to explain.

I sat in the restaurant waiting for him until they closed.

When I got home, David's phone was still unreachable.

That night, Lily and I lay awake until dawn.

David came home the next morning. And he wasn't alone.

He brought Riley with him.

It had been so long since I last saw her, and the moment I laid eyes on that woman again, the sick feeling in my stomach hit even harder than before.

David noticed me staring at Riley and rushed to explain. "Look, Riley's family had an emergency. She doesn't have anyone here, so she's just gonna stay with us for a couple days."

"Are you kidding me?"

Stay with us for a couple of days?

Those words coming out of David's mouth were dead wrong, and he knew it.

When my mother got sick and needed a specialist, I suggested she stay with us while waiting for the appointment. David flat-out refused. "I don't want a fourth person in this house. It's just the three of us. That's it."

I was furious, but my mom insisted she wouldn't impose.

She booked a hotel.

I got into a massive fight with David over that.

But he told me, "It's not about your mom specifically. I just don't want anyone else here. Period."

And he stuck to his word. Even when his own mother came to visit, she wasn't allowed to stay.

His mother even made a passive-aggressive dig about it once. "Can't even stay in my own son's house."

I knew she assumed it was my doing.

Honestly, I didn't mind.

So I pulled up my old chat history with David and showed it to her. "Mom, this one really isn't on me."

Once she read the messages, she knew she had no leg to stand on and dropped it.

So what about now?

"Sarah, why are you getting so worked up? It's just two days."

"Two days? David, have you forgotten? How did you treat my mom? How did you treat your own mother?"

The second I threw that in his face, David remembered.

He lowered his head, embarrassed.

"Get out."

Without another word, I threw Riley out.

David tried to argue, but one icy look from me shut him up. "If she sets foot in this house, I swear this family is done."

"And another thing. You ditched me last night because of her? David, if you want a divorce, just say it."

I locked him out too.

Not so he'd run off with Riley. I was giving him half an hour to figure out how to explain himself.

But when I opened the door again, David was long gone.