Chapter 1

Eight years into my marriage, I finally realized that in his eyes, I was someone he could toss aside anytime. That day at the airport, I was in the restroom for only three minutes. When I came back, his car was gone.

I called him, but he didn't pick up. I stood at the exit with my suitcase for two full hours, and he never came. So I went to the counter and bought myself a ticket back to my parents' place.

Five days later, he asked the housekeeper in a hoarse voice, "Why isn't my wife back yet?" She shook her head. "Sir, we can't reach her." That was when he finally panicked. But for me, those five days were the freest I'd had since marrying him.

*****

In the eighth year of our marriage, Andrew Shaw left me alone at the airport. I had gone to the restroom and come back out in less than three minutes. All that remained was the faint chill in the air and the taillights of his black Land Rover disappearing into the distance.

I called him without thinking. No answer. Same thing the second time.

I stood in the draft by Terminal B's exit with my 24-inch suitcase, looking like a complete idiot. People streamed around me, some picking loved ones up, some saying goodbye, every face filled with something real. I was the only one standing there numb.

Twenty minutes later, I sent him a message: [Where did you go?] There was no reply.

An hour later, I sent another: [I'm still waiting for you at the exit.] It vanished into the void.

Two hours passed. My phone screen lit up and went dark over and over, but nothing came from him. That was when it finally sank in. I'd been left behind, like a worn-out piece of luggage someone could toss aside without a second thought.

After eight years of marriage, I finally understood what I meant to him. I let out a bitter little laugh, but my eyes started to burn. Wiping the dampness away, I turned and dragged my suitcase back into the brightly lit terminal.

I didn't call him again or send another message. I walked straight to the airline counter.

"Hi, I'd like the next flight to Silverlake City, please." The woman at the counter tapped at her keyboard. "Ma'am, the next one leaves in forty minutes. There's only one economy seat left. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I pulled out my ID, swiped my card, and finished the whole thing in one go.

Holding that thin boarding pass, I suddenly felt unbelievably light. It was like the invisible chains wrapped around me for the past eight years had shattered in that moment.

Silverlake City was home—my parents' home, a place I hadn't returned to alone in three whole years. Every time I went back, it was as Andrew Shaw's wife, rushing through social obligations and visits with my sick parents before hurrying away again.

When the plane took off, the roar shook right through me. I turned off my phone and leaned against the window, watching the city lights below shrink into a blurry sea of glow.

Out of nowhere, I remembered the call he'd gotten that morning from the woman he'd never truly forgotten. I hadn't heard what she said, only seen the way his brows stayed tightly drawn after he hung up.

Thinking back now, maybe he never planned to take me on that business trip in the first place. Leaving me at the airport was just the crudest and most direct way he could think of.

The plane broke through the clouds, and I felt strangely calm. Andrew Shaw, this time, you were the one who gave up on me first.