Chapter 2

Serena Miller was the woman Sean had his first emotional affair with. Because he could never have her, she became the woman he would always idealize.

The woman he picked this time didn't just look like Serena. Even their names sounded alike.

"Serena Miller, Selena Winston," I said, pulling a solo photo of the girl from the pile and tossing it in front of him. My laugh was pure mockery. "After all these years, you are really devoted."

Sean lowered his eyes to the photo. Humiliated fury flashed across his face, but he quickly reined it in. "Jane, even if you know, what difference does it make?"

No difference. I knew, I had solid proof, and I had done it all for one reason: to get enough out of the settlement.

If Sean refused, fine. I could take legal action and fight for what was mine.

"I really hate this about you. Nickel-and-diming everything!" Sean slammed the door and left again.

I thought, 'A cheater throwing a tantrum. Clearly, I'd given him far too much leeway over the years.'

I was starting to prepare the paperwork for the divorce lawsuit when my mother-in-law, in her seventies, suddenly showed up at my door.

She hadn't come by in a long time, and I hadn't been to see her in just as long.

Ever since Sean's first affair, every word out of her mouth had defended him and blamed me. That was when I knew Sean's whole family was rotten to the core.

She rambled about this and that before finally getting to the point. "Jane dear, I've heard about you and Sean."

She sighed heavily, playing the helpless mother. "He's at that age now, I can't control him anymore. In the end, I suppose the two of you weren't meant to last."

She went on and on. Every word carried the same complaint. That I should have listened to her when I was younger, that no matter what, I should have had a child...

I cut her off. "Not having children was Sean's idea."

She fell silent and dropped the subject, turning instead to the matter of how Sean and I were going to divide our assets.

"... You're fifty already. What's the point of holding on to so much money?" she said.

Her real meaning was clear. I was old, I couldn't have children, I had no kids to leave anything to, so who was all that money for?

Anyone but Sean. Even throwing it in the ocean would at least make a splash.

My refusal to budge nearly gave her a stroke. On her way out, she looked at me with cloudy, hostile eyes. "Jane, a woman being too tough in her marriage is never a good thing."

I thought, 'If I wasn't tough, was I supposed to grovel and beg Sean not to divorce me?'

*****

Sean's response to the uneven settlement was to shut down completely.

After years of using the silent treatment on me, it had become muscle memory. Whenever anything didn't go his way, he froze me out.

But this time he couldn't hold out for long. Selena gave him an ultimatum: make their relationship official, or she was gone.

Girls in their twenties have their own natural leverage. After all, one man's money spends as well as another's.

Sean couldn't bear to lose her. Losing Serena had haunted him for years. He wasn't about to lose Selena, who resembled Serena in every way that mattered.

So he came back to negotiate, trying to guilt me with the years we had shared.

I refused to budge. My stance was rock solid, and by the end I tore into Sean with every ugly word I could think of.

His face was awful, but he couldn't argue back. Every word I said was true.

When he had no argument left, he started twisting the truth. "Jane, I never once asked you to be faithful in this marriage."

I thought, 'There it is. Exactly the line I've been waiting for.'

I put away the recorder and threw in one more insult for good measure, calling him the piece of trash he was.

In the end, Sean agreed to give me seventy percent of the assets.

It was the most he was willing to concede. I knew even a courtroom fight wouldn't leave him with nothing. I had consulted plenty of divorce lawyers by then.

So I accepted the number and had my lawyer draw up the agreement right away.

As Sean signed, he took another jab at me. "Jane, what's the point of holding all that money? Is it going to call you mommy?"

I wasn't angry. I even smiled at him, in a very good mood. "Mind your own business."

Sean looked away and took several deep breaths before he could rein in his temper. A grown man well into middle age, still that quick to snap.

Middle-aged couples, kids or no kids, once money enters the picture, they always end as enemies.

There was still a mandatory one-month waiting period before the divorce was final. During that month, Sean didn't come home once. He moved in openly with his new girlfriend.

A month later, I saw Sean and Selena at the courthouse. Standing together, they didn't look like a couple, but father and daughter.

Selena was dressed to look girlish, and no matter how young Sean carried himself, he was still a man pushing fifty. The age gap between them was a canyon nothing could bridge.

Sean was showing off to me.

I thought, 'What is there to show off? He knows better than anyone what that girl actually sees in him.'

The moment I had the divorce papers in hand, my whole body felt lighter.

Sean pinched a corner of the certificate and couldn't resist another jab. "Jane, better find some old man to marry before the wrinkles take over your face."

I lifted my chin and looked down at him from three steps up. "Don't worry about me. With this much money, what kind of man couldn't I have?"

Sean's expression flickered. Right then Selena walked over, hooked her arm through his, and started cooing at him in that soft, sugary voice.

Sean's mood settled instantly. He slid an arm around her shoulders, shot me one last taunting look, and turned to leave.

They hadn't gone far when Selena glanced back and gave me a tiny wink.