Chapter 3

After the door closed, I didn’t go after him.

The coat Evan had brought home earlier still hung over the back of a chair. Half a cup of cold coffee sat on the table.

In the past, I would have waited for him to return, set out his stomach medication, and listened while he explained why someone else’s needs were always more urgent than our plans.

This time, I closed the laptop, went to the bedroom, and locked the door.

Evan returned at seven that morning.

Lena’s bleeding had stopped, and the baby was safe for now.

He was visibly relieved as he told me.

Then he placed a glass of water in front of me, as if the night before had been nothing more than a badly handled marital argument.

“We both need some sleep,” he said. “We can talk about what happens next when we’ve calmed down.”

“I need three answers by eight tomorrow night.”

He stopped halfway through removing his coat.

“First, you end your romantic relationship with Lena. You can meet your responsibilities as the father, but you don’t get to keep two partners. Second, you stop telling people what our marriage is or isn’t. Third, you attend one counseling session with me and tell the truth about the last fourteen months.”

Evan stared at me. “You want me to abandon her after she nearly miscarried?”

“I’m telling you to end the affair.”

“She’s carrying my child. Those things can’t be completely separated.” He lowered his voice. “You know what it feels like to lose a baby, Nora. Why would you put this pressure on her now?”

I pushed the paper listing my three conditions across the table and underlined the deadline.

“It applies to you.”

Evan shoved the water away. “I’m not accepting an ultimatum. Your hormones are all over the place. Once you calm down, you’ll understand that adults don’t solve problems this way.”

I didn’t bother pointing out that adults didn’t get two women pregnant at the same time either.

“Eight o’clock tomorrow,” I repeated. “After that, I’ll make my own arrangements based on your answer.”

He tried to continue, but I picked up my phone and walked into the study. The argument wasn’t going to give me any new answers.

I messaged Maya and asked her to hold the short-term apartment near the hearing center for me.

It was small, required a three-month lease, and the deposit cost half a month’s salary.

I stared at the payment screen for a long time before taking the money from my maternity leave savings.

Next, I scheduled a one-hour consultation with a divorce attorney.

I needed to know what documents to keep before leaving our home. I wasn’t expecting a stranger to win the entire divorce for me.

Then I opened our baby fund to recalculate how much maternity leave I could still afford.

The balance was almost half of what I remembered.

There weren’t dozens of suspicious purchases. There was only one recurring payment.

On the first of every month, twenty-one hundred dollars had been transferred with the memo: RENT—L. MOORE.

The first payment had gone out seven months ago.

Evan hadn’t only been attending Lena’s prenatal appointments.

He had been using the money we saved for our child to maintain a second home for her.