Chapter 1
I'd been with Leroy Carter for three years, and in all that time, he never stopped seeing other women.
"We agreed when we married, didn't we?" he said. "We each do our own thing."
On the ninety-ninth time he left me for one of them, I finally decided to walk away.
Leroy thought I was just being dramatic and told me I was petty.
I looked at the guy beside me. "Do you think I'm petty?"
He pulled me into his arms. "Of course not, Hazel. You've always been the understanding one."
Later, when a video surfaced of someone proposing to me, Leroy finally lost his composure.
He searched for me like a madman, desperate to know where I'd gone.
But this time, I, Hazel Reed, wasn't looking back.
*****
When I pushed open the door to the study, Leroy was leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window, talking on the phone. The morning light cast a golden glow over his tall figure.
He was absentmindedly playing with a diamond cufflink in his left hand, phone in his right, his voice dripping with honey.
"Baby, that pink Porsche you wanted is already parked in your garage," he said.
He laughed softly, the hickey on his throat barely hidden by the silk collar of his shirt.
"Don't pout. I promise I'll be with you tonight.
"And that necklace you liked yesterday? I've already had it sent to your apartment," he said.
He chuckled into the phone, his cuff carrying a trace of some unfamiliar perfume. "Now? I'm in a meeting right now.
"Lie to you? Why would I do that?" he said.
He chuckled into the phone, his voice so syrupy it could practically drip sugar.
"What? Me having dinner with Miss Stein?" He rubbed his temples.
"It was just a business dinner. Yeah, you know you're my favorite, right?" he said.
The sound of my pen gliding across the paper caught Leroy's attention and made him turn his head.
Leroy gave the document a careless glance, then continued chatting on the phone. "I'll take you to the auction tonight. Anything you fancy, it's yours," he said.
I gently placed the divorce papers on his leather desk.
Leroy gave them a casual glance, then pulled a pen from his suit pocket.
Still sweet-talking the person on the phone, he scrawled his signature across the bottom of the document.
"Alright, be good for now," he said.
He hung up, tossed the pen aside, and turned to leave.
"You didn't even bother to check what you were signing?" I said calmly.
He stopped in his tracks, turned back, and raised an eyebrow at me.
"So, which island are you planning to buy now?" he joked.
"No, it's the divorce papers," I said.
I looked him straight in the eye, dead serious.
"Come on, Hazel, that's not funny," Leroy said.
His warm palm rested on the back of my neck, his thumb softly rubbing the tiny mole at my hairline.
That used to make my heart flutter, but now it only felt hollow.
He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to the tense corner of my lips, the bitterness of the cigar mixing with the sickly sweetness of some stranger's lipstick.
"We've been married for three years. Why are you still acting like some jealous little girl?" he said.
I turned my head to dodge his kiss, but he kept coming after me, his nose brushing against my earlobe.
"Didn't we agree before the wedding? We do our own thing," Leroy said, his voice gentle but helpless, like he was coaxing a clueless kid.
"You'll always be my one and only Mrs. Carter. When I'm done having fun, I'll be back for you.
"Sienna is throwing a fit again. She's even more trouble than the last ones.
"See? That's just how those women are, just flings, not the kind you'd ever bring home to meet the family.
"Be good, Hazel. Don't waste your energy on them," he coaxed softly.
His fingers teasingly traced over my wedding ring. "Maybe it's time we think about having a baby, hmm?"
Outside, a car screeched to a halt.
Leroy glanced at his diamond-studded watch, grabbed his coat, and gave my cheek a playful squeeze.
"Be good. Don't wait up for me tonight," he said.
Just as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back and pulled a velvet box from his pocket.
"Almost forgot. Got you a little something," he said.
He opened the box, revealing a pair of ruby earrings.
They were pretty much the same as the ones he gave that movie star last week.
I knew this routine all too well. Whenever Leroy got on my nerves, he'd just toss me some random piece of jewelry, thinking it would smooth things over.
"Make sure you wait for me for dinner next Wednesday," Leroy said, flashing me a wink, then vanished around the corner of the hallway.
I opened the folder. Sunlight spilled across the paper, his bold, carefree signature standing out beside mine, precise and reserved.
Just like our marriage, he indulged himself, while I kept swallowing my pride and making compromises.
But this time, I wasn't giving him another chance to sweet-talk his way back into my life.