Chapter 4

Maybe it was some twisted attempt to compensate his long-neglected wife, but for the past few days, Daniel actually did the unthinkable and stayed home.

I pushed open the front door one evening and was shocked to see him wearing an apron, bustling around the kitchen trying to cook.

But Daniel was too used to being pampered. His movements were incredibly clumsy, and he kept coughing from the smoke.

"What kind of show are you trying to put on?" I leaned against the doorframe, watching this pathetic little performance with cold eyes.

"Anna, I have been thinking a lot about our past lately." A tender smile spread across his face, like he was lost in some beautiful memory. "We were so broke back then.

"But we were so happy just splitting a five-dollar pizza."

In the early days of his startup, we were pinching pennies so hard we couldn't even afford an apartment with working heating.

During the bitterest winter, we would huddle under cheap blankets, holding onto each other just to stay warm.

Summers were even worse. The apartment felt like an oven at night. When Daniel couldn't sleep from the heat, I would stay up and point a busted box fan right at him, just so he could get a decent night's rest.

We survived all of that suffering. And my reward for finally making it to the good times was Daniel's endless betrayals.

How dare he bring up the past? The more beautiful those memories were, the more absolutely repulsed I was by the man standing in front of me now.

Daniel, completely lost in his own nostalgia, sighed. "We were so happy back then."

I cut him off without an ounce of mercy. "Happy? Stop dragging that word through the mud.

"Don't you feel ridiculous spewing this garbage now? Do us both a favor and just sign the damn papers."

Daniel scoffed. "I told you. You can forget about a divorce."

"I just don't get it." He suddenly raised his voice, sounding genuinely bewildered. "We survived the hardest parts together. We literally have everything now, and this is when you want to walk away?

"Does it have to be like this? Tell me. What the hell do I have to do to make you happy?"

"Give me a divorce. That will make me ecstatic."

He slammed the stainless steel spatula down on the counter so violently it cracked the kitchen tile.

Daniel's face was livid, his lips pressed into a tight, pale line.

Just when I thought he was going to completely explode, he suddenly let out a dark chuckle. "Fine. We will play it your way. Let's see who breaks first. I have nothing but time to play these games with you."

What Daniel still couldn't understand was that our marriage was exactly like that crack in the tile. It was permanently broken, and there was absolutely no fixing it.

*****

Our last conversation ended in a toxic stalemate.

As if to punish me, he started acting completely unhinged and moved Madison right into our house.

He was hellbent on getting a reaction out of me.

The living room, the dining room, and even his study became their personal playgrounds.

I pushed open the kitchen door once and caught him pinning Madison against the fridge. She shot me a smug look and purposefully let out these exaggerated, breathy moans.

I barely blinked. I just pushed past them, grabbed a Diet Coke from the fridge, and walked out.

My total indifference only pissed him off more. Too bad his little game fell completely flat.

My suitcases were already packed. I was heading to the field station in the morning, and I had zero energy to waste on two animals in heat.

I woke up at dawn on moving day. Daniel and Madison had been partying until three in the morning, so they were dead to the world.

I dropped a fresh stack of divorce papers on the coffee table.

He had shredded the last copy, but that was fine. For every copy he destroyed, I would print ten more.

I closed the front door with a quiet click so I wouldn't wake him.

After all, we were still married on paper. As his future ex wife, letting him and his side piece get some sleep was the least I could do.

Morning sunlight hit my suitcase, illuminating the expedition team logo. It was an eagle spreading its wings.

I brushed my fingers over the decal.

For years, I had been an eagle with broken wings trapped in a gilded cage.

Today, I was finally taking flight.