Chapter 1
I had been planning tonight’s candlelit dinner for a full week.
I changed into the off-the-shoulder dress Grant loved most and dimmed every light in the house until the rooms glowed warm and soft.
The red roses in the center of the table still had drops of water clinging to their petals. I had picked them out myself that afternoon.
I had even given the staff the night off.
I wanted the house to feel private.
Intimate.
Quiet enough that the only sound was the classical music drifting through the living room.
The clock crept toward eight.
The steaks went from hot to barely warm.
A third of each candle burned away, wax hardening on the table like dried tears.
Then my phone finally rang.
I answered with a smile.
Grant’s voice was flat, edged with the familiar impatience I had learned to ignore.
“An emergency meeting came up. I won’t be home tonight. Go ahead and eat without me.”
The line went dead before I could ask a single question.
Something inside me snapped.
The hurt slid down my spine like ice.
I stared at the untouched food, my fingers beginning to tremble.
Before I could stop myself, I opened the location-sharing app on my phone.
The blue dot marking Grant’s location was not at his office downtown.
It was at the aviation-themed restaurant just outside the city.
The place where he had proposed to me.
For one terrible second, my mind went blank.
Then anger, humiliation, and suspicion crashed over me all at once.
My emotions had already been harder to control during pregnancy.
Now they broke loose completely.
A sharp pain pulled through my lower abdomen.
I gripped the fabric of my dress, trying to breathe through it.
Before I could steady myself, my screen lit up again.
An anonymous photo message.
The moment I opened it, my blood turned cold.
Grant was seated at a table, cutting into a steak.
His expression was focused.
Gentle.
The way he used to look at me.
Across from him sat Audrey Collins.
His first love.
The woman he always described as fragile because of her anxiety.
It was always the same.
He called her a friend.
Then crossed every boundary in our marriage to take care of her.
My phone slipped from my hand and hit the floor.
Pain exploded deep inside my abdomen.
It felt as though a blunt blade were twisting through me.
I bent forward, trying to ease the cramping.
Then I looked down.
Bright red blood was running down the inside of my thighs, spreading across the carpet beneath me.
The pain was so intense I could barely stay upright.
But somehow, the pain in my chest was worse.
I dragged myself toward the coffee table, my nails catching in the carpet as I reached for my phone.
My hands shook as I called Grant.
He answered.
Noise filled the background.
Voices.
Silverware.
Music.
Then his cold voice cut through it all.
“Didn’t I tell you I’m busy? Stop making a scene and get some rest.”
Click.
He hung up.
The entire world went silent.
Whatever hope I had left died in that moment.
I lay on the cold floor, staring at the glittering lights above me.
They were beautiful.
And completely without warmth.
So this was what I meant to him.
My life.
Our baby.
Neither mattered as much as one dinner with his first love.
I looked at the blood spreading across the carpet.
All I could think was that I was losing our child.
The child Grant did not care enough to ask about.
I had no tears left.
Only despair.
With the last of my strength, I dialed 911.
Just before the darkness swallowed me, I heard my own voice.
Broken.
Cold.
And, for the first time, almost free.