Chapter 3

I stopped outside the study with the empty carton against my hip.

Cassidy's bracelet clicked against the desk again. "After the transfer, can I stop pretending to be her friend?"

Victoria lowered her voice, but the old lodge carried it through the door. "Leah will have Pine Bay. She'll stay at the lake, and Adrian can keep the rest of his life. There is no reason to upset her before he signs."

"He thinks she'll forgive him."

"She always has. Be patient for nineteen more days."

The bottom of the carton softened beneath my fingers. They were not waiting to see what I would do. They had already decided that my love made my decision for me.

I set the carton down before it tore.

Outside, Adrian was showing his uncle the dock. He waved when I crossed the drive, the casual greeting of a husband who expected to find his wife in the same place that evening. I raised my hand. He had turned away before I lowered it.

Before leaving, I went to the lake cottage. My mother's cedar box remained in the bottom dresser drawer. I opened it, removed my wedding ring, and placed it inside. The pale mark around my finger stayed. Laughter crossed the lawn. No footsteps approached.

I closed the box and left Pine Bay with the photograph, the video, and the transfer agreement in my bag.

The road curved through pines thick enough to hide the lake. Afternoon light moved across the windshield in quick bands. The pale band where my wedding ring had been looked brighter as my hands warmed around the steering wheel. At the stop sign, my thumb found bare skin. A truck waited behind me. In my head, Victoria kept counting nineteen days as if they belonged to her.

The lawyer who had reviewed the resort agreement worked above a pharmacy in town. I placed my phone on her desk and played the video. She watched it once, then read the transfer schedule while I sat with both hands beneath the table so she would not see them shake.

Filing for divorce would not cancel the handover. Adrian could still refuse to sign, but doing so would break the agreement he had spent years insisting he intended to honor.

That was all I needed.

The lawyer opened an intake form. "What do you want to do?"

"File today. Serve him after Pine Bay is in my name."

She turned the petition toward me.

My name appeared on the first page: Leah Morgan Shaw. I had written it on anniversary cards, resort tax forms, and the condolence notes after my mother died. Adrian had stood beside me through that loss. For years, whenever he hurt me, I brought that version of him forward as evidence for the defense.

I picked up the pen.

The part of me that had begged him to come home should have objected. The woman Victoria expected should have asked for one more conversation. Neither stopped my hand.

I signed both copies.

The lawyer submitted the petition while I watched. A confirmation receipt appeared on her screen with that afternoon's date.

"Hold service until Pine Bay is in my name."

She attached the instruction to my file and printed the receipt.

I left the office with the filed petition in my bag and no ring on my hand.

Victoria had given Cassidy nineteen more days. I had used the first one to file for divorce.