Chapter 3

I'm in the break room at the office, and there's a group of coworkers not even bothering to lower their voices.

"Cassian is so sweet on Blair. I literally saw him drop her off at work this morning."

"I went in to deliver a contract earlier and heard him tell her, in this soft voice I've genuinely never heard him use, that if anyone here ever gives her trouble, she should come straight to him."

"Since when does the Ice King do soft?"

Someone else jumps in, grinning.

"You guys don't know? Blair's his ex."

I froze in the hallway outside the door, my hand locking around my coffee cup.

Something in my chest just dropped.

"They dated for seven years. High school through college. Gave each other their whole, most innocent chapter of growing up."

"If she hadn't gone off to grad school in Milan, they never would've broken up."

"So now that she's back, they're obviously getting back together, right?"

"A hundred percent. Honestly, Maren's going to be devastated."

"Serves her right. Walking around here acting like she's his wife. Has she even looked at how he treats her? He can barely stand to look at her."

I leaned against the wall, shaking, and I couldn't stop it. Cold, all over.

That's when it hit me.

The husband I'd always thought of as an unreachable block of ice apparently had a whole other setting. Warm. Attentive. Devoted.

He clearly had it in him to love someone with everything he had.

Just not me.

That night, I got home and lit into him.

Told him he was still hung up on his ex. Told him it was rich, hiding behind "avoiding gossip" in public while playing favorites with her at the office, letting her walk off with the job that should've been mine.

Where was all that careful discretion then?

He didn't interrupt. Just sat there sipping his tea, watching me completely unravel like he was waiting out bad weather. Not a flicker on his face the whole time.

When I'd finally cried myself out, he set his cup down.

"Are you done?"

"Go put Atlas to bed."

Outside, it was pouring. Thunder cracking close enough to rattle the windows.

I wiped my face and picked Atlas up, humming until he settled. Whatever was happening between his father and me wasn't his problem, so I kept it that way. Didn't say a word about it.

But he looked up at my puffy eyes anyway, and reached out to wipe them with his small hand, clumsy and careful at the same time.

"Don't be sad, Mommy."

"If you're sad, I get sad too."

I froze for a second. Then I pulled him in close and just cried into his hair.

Because of him.

I still couldn't bring myself to file for divorce.