Chapter 1
The day Andrew Collins and I got divorced, I was three months pregnant.
He was too busy picking up his first love, Jessica Rowe, from the airport to even glance at the divorce agreement before signing it.
Nine years later, at the Landon Youth Creative Competition awards dinner, he personally presented the prizes as the event's top sponsor.
When the champion stepped onto the stage, he froze, staring at a face that could've been a mirror image of his own. His hand almost slipped, dropping the trophy right then and there.
I stood in the corner with a glass of champagne and smiled.
Nine years ago, Andrew said I was nothing but trouble. Tonight, I'd like to see how he handled this gift.
*****
The lawyer, Leo Lewis, slid the document across the table to me and said gently, "Ms. Sutton, you can sign now."
I nodded.
Andrew sat across from me, his new watch flashing under the lights. He didn't look at me and just kept his head down, typing away on his phone.
I couldn't see the screen, but I knew that little smirk on his lips.
He only ever smiled like that when he was chatting with Jessica.
Jessica was flying back from Maple City at 3:30 this afternoon. Andrew had been waiting for this day for six years.
I flipped open the divorce agreement.
I got the house on the East Side. A car was transferred to my name. 1.5 million dollars, paid in three installments, would be deposited into my account.
Leo drafted it meticulously, every clause dignified and fair.
It felt like they were saying, "You're taken care of, so don't cause any trouble."
"Just skim through it," Andrew said, not even bothering to look up.
I ignored him and turned the pages one by one.
He tapped his fingers on the table and said to Leo, "Leo, can you hurry this up? I need to be at the airport by three."
He was heading to the airport, flowers in hand, waiting at the arrivals gate for Jessica to walk out with her suitcase.
Divorcing me was nothing compared to this.
I flipped to the second-to-last page.
The section covering children bore several plain words: No children during the marriage.
My fingers froze.
There was nothing to see on my belly. It was flat, still.
But I knew, something had already been there for three months.
I went to the doctor last week. He said the baby was developing well, with a strong heartbeat.
I looked up.
Andrew was putting his phone away and getting to his feet, like he'd finally had enough of my stalling. "Any more questions?"
"Andrew," I said.
He looked at me.
"We've been married for three years. Was there ever a single day you came home just because you wanted to see me?" I asked.
He frowned.
He looked at me like a student suddenly faced with a question from another planet. Confusion flickered across his face for a heartbeat before clear irritation set in.
"Claire, we're here to handle real business," he said.
"You don't think this is real business?" I shot back.
"I think you're wasting time."
He pulled a set of keys from his briefcase and set them down next to the agreement. "There's a small apartment next to the house on the East Side. I'll transfer that to you too.
"Think of it as a bonus from me. Between that and what's in the agreement, you'll be set."
I'd be set.
He made it sound so easy, like I'd just been a temp in his life for three years, and now that the final payment was made, I was supposed to pack up and leave.
I stared at the keys. They were silver, with a black leather tag hanging from them.
"No, thanks," I said.
He paused. "Don't be stubborn."
"I said no."
He stared at me for a few seconds, like he was trying to figure out if I was playing hard to get.
Finally, he put the keys away and shrugged. "Suit yourself."
I picked up the pen and signed my name on the last page.
I pressed down so hard that the pen left a groove in the paper.
After signing, I slid the agreement back across the table and stood up. "Done."
Andrew took the agreement, glanced at my signature, nodded, and turned to leave.
He took a couple of steps, and then stopped, his back to me. "I've already paid the heating bill for the house on the East Side for a year. You can move in and settle right away."
He sounded like he was telling an admin to handle an office move.
I didn't say a word.
He pushed the door open and walked out. The sound of his shoes echoed down the hallway, fading into the distance.
Leo started clearing the table. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Ms. Sutton, you could've taken that small apartment."
I shook my head.
When I stepped out of the office building, the September sun was so intense that it made my head spin. I stood on the steps, watching Andrew's black Land Rover pull out of the parking lot, merge into traffic, and disappear in no time.
I lowered my head, placing my hand softly over my belly.
Andrew thought throwing a few million my way meant he'd done his duty.
He didn't even know he was about to have a kid.
I'd remember this.
*****
That afternoon, after leaving the lawyer's office, I went to the hospital.
The prenatal checkup went fine. The doctor said I was three months and five days pregnant, and everything looked right on track.
"Try to keep your stress down," the doctor said, glancing up at me. "You came here alone?"
"Yeah," I said.
"No family with you?"
"No family."
She didn't press further. She kept her head down and continued writing in my chart.
I walked out of the exam room with the ultrasound report in hand. The hallway stretched on, lined with pregnant women. Every single one of them had someone by their side.
I folded the report and slipped it into my bag.
After leaving the hospital, I grabbed a cab, but I was not heading to the house on the East Side.
I told the driver to take me to the South Side.
Finding a place wasn't hard. In an alley in the old part of the South Side, there was a storefront about 300 square feet up for rent.
The location wasn't great, with a narrow lane lined with breakfast stalls right out front.
But the rent was cheap. I glanced at the old tree out front, paused for a moment, and said, "I'll take it."
The landlord gave me a second look. A young, pregnant woman, coming by herself to rent a storefront.
She didn't ask a single question and just handed me the keys.
That month, I put the house on the East Side up for sale. The real estate agent said my price was too low, that I'd lose money.
I said, "I won't."
When the money from the sale hit my account, I did the math. The sale money plus my savings from the past three years would keep me going for a year and a half.
That was enough.
For the next three months, with my belly getting bigger by the day, I painted the walls, ran around the hardware stores, and hauled a sewing machine up the stairs all by myself.
The neighbor lady couldn't stand watching me struggle, so she helped me move stuff twice. "Claire, where's your family?" she asked.
"Just me," I said.
"What about the baby's dad?"
"It doesn't have a dad."
She sighed and didn't say anything else.