Chapter 4

The penthouse was silent when I returned.

I went straight upstairs, pulled two suitcases from the wardrobe and began packing.

I took my passport, personal documents, medication and enough clothes for the next few weeks.

Then I packed the jewelry inherited from my mother, my family photographs and the notebooks containing the plans and speeches I had written for Nathaniel.

I left everything he had bought me.

The dresses remained in the wardrobe.

The watches stayed inside their cases.

The blue velvet jewelry box from that morning remained beside his cuff links.

I did not break anything.

I did not leave the rooms in chaos.

I simply removed everything that belonged to me.

When the suitcases were full, I called the driver from my family’s coastal estate and asked him to meet me downstairs.

Then I returned to the bedroom and removed my wedding ring.

A pale mark remained around my finger.

I carried the ring downstairs and placed it in the center of the marble dining table.

Next, I took the ultrasound report from my handbag.

The small black-and-white image showed the child growing inside me.

I was ten weeks pregnant.

Nathaniel had spent the morning celebrating another woman’s pregnancy without knowing that his wife was carrying his child.

I turned the report over and wrote:

I thought you would be the first person I told.

My hand paused above the paper.

Then I added:

You chose to be the last.

I placed the ultrasound report beneath my wedding ring.

Beside it, I arranged three photographs.

Lyra standing in the doorway of Penthouse 2804, five months pregnant and wearing Nathaniel’s robe.

Nathaniel standing behind her with his shirt unbuttoned.

The maternity portrait hanging on their wall.

There was no need to write anything else.

He would understand.

I took one final photograph of everything on the table and uploaded it to my encrypted folder.

Then I carried my suitcases to the elevator.

As the doors closed, I removed Nathaniel’s access to my location.

I blocked his number and changed the passwords to my private accounts.

By four o’clock, I had left the city.

The coastal estate stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Before they died, our parents had placed the family properties in a real-estate trust naming me as sole beneficiary; Lyra received a separate financial trust. The staff still kept the estate ready for me.

I instructed security not to admit Nathaniel under any circumstances.

Then I went upstairs, placed my suitcases in the guest bedroom and sat on the terrace.

My phone remained silent throughout the afternoon.

Nathaniel did not call.

He did not send a message.

He was still with Lyra.

At 11:07 p.m., my phone finally vibrated.

A notification from the penthouse security system appeared on the screen.

FRONT DOOR UNLOCKED — NATHANIEL.

I opened the live feed.

The front door swung inward.

My husband stood in the doorway, holding my birthday cake.