Chapter 5

Ryan set the folder on the table and stretched out his legs. "Andrew has not signed yet. But his secretary has called my office seven times."

"What did she want?"

"She said that you pulling the guarantee caught everyone with their pants down. The bank is reviewing its exposure. The board wants answers."

I snapped the first aid kit shut. "Why should I care about his company's risk profile?"

Ryan looked at me. A slow smile crossed his face. "That is a new sound coming from you."

It was true. Back then, if Andrew so much as furrowed his brow, I would stay up three nights straight trying to fix whatever was wrong.

If his project hit a wall, I worried myself sick.

If he came home from a dinner with a sour stomach, I would drag myself out of bed to heat broth for him.

When his mother was in the hospital, I handled the doctors, the private room, the surgery schedule, the whole thing.

For his father's birthday, I went over the guest list and the menu item by item.

I was an unpaid assistant who never clocked out.

And after a while, everyone acted like that was normal. I acted like it was normal.

Then a nurse asked him about my allergies, and he stood there with a blank face.

That was when it clicked. It was not that I was not trying hard enough. He simply never paid attention.

*****

Things at the company went sideways fast. By the third day, Andrew was standing at my front door.

His suit was rumpled. Dark circles sat under his eyes. He looked like he had not slept in days. That was unusual for him.

Andrew always looked pressed and clean. He could be drowning in work and still find time to make sure his collar was spotless.

I kept the chain on the door and looked at him through the gap. "What do you want?"

He stared at me. His voice came out rough. "Are you really going to do this?"

"Do what?"

"You pulled the guarantee. You froze the legal approvals. Your team put every supplier contract on hold. Evelyn, is this payback?"

I almost laughed. "Andrew, do you honestly believe everything is about you?

"Payback? I am giving back what was never mine in the first place."

His face darkened. "You have been part of this company from day one. If it goes under, you cannot act like you have no skin in the game."

"I was part of it because I was your wife," I said. My voice was steady. "I am not your wife anymore. Why would I keep bailing you out?"

He swallowed hard. For a second, he had nothing to say. Then he spoke low. "Tell me what you want. Shares. Property. Cash.

"If that does not cover it, name a number. We can work this out."

I looked at him. A sad little ache settled in my chest. So in his head, five years of marriage was a business deal. Something you could negotiate over a conference table.

"I want your signature," I said. "I will handle the rest myself."

His eyes went dark. "Evelyn. Do not push me."

I let out a short laugh. "So now you know what a corner feels like."

His expression froze.

I did not give him time to answer. I shut the door in his face.

Once it clicked shut, I leaned back against it and closed my eyes.

My chest still felt heavy. It was not that I could not let go. It was that after so many years, the ache was a habit. My body did not know how to stop feeling it yet.

That night, Andrew called me over twenty times. I let every single one ring.

At one in the morning, a message came through. [How long are you going to drag this out?]

I stared at the words for a long time. Then I typed back: [I am not the one dragging anything. You are the one who forgot for too long.]

I hit send and blocked his number.

*****

The next morning, I went to the office. Not to work, but to pick up my things.

The second I stepped off the elevator, I caught the low murmur coming from the break room.

"Did you hear? Mr. Shaw and Mrs. Shaw are actually splitting up."

"No way. I thought she was crazy about him. She would never leave."

"Love does not matter when the ex is back in the picture. Chloe was sitting in his office yesterday."

"Legal and finance are going to be a disaster without Mrs. Shaw, right? Did she not handle most of that stuff?"

"Please. She was good at her job, sure. But she was still the wife. Mr. Shaw built this company."

My steps slowed for half a beat. Then I kept walking. I went straight to my office.