Chapter 2

Graham didn't come home that night.

The next morning I woke up to a wave of pain so sharp it pulled me out of sleep. My clothes were soaked through with cold sweat.

I dragged myself up, dug through the medicine box at the bottom of the drawer for the strong painkillers Dr. Lindstrom had prescribed, and swallowed two of them dry.

They take a while to kick in. I curled up on the carpet and watched the rain outside.

Around ten, I got a call from the wife of one of the other partners at the firm.

"Nora, the charity dinner next week. You and Graham are coming, right? Everyone's looking forward to seeing you two. The model couple."

The model couple.

The corner of my mouth pulled up.

"Sorry, I haven't been feeling well lately. I don't think I'll make it," I said.

After I hung up, I started packing.

One by one, I put away the things in the living room I used to treasure. The crystal glasses Graham brought back from Paris. The vintage lamp we found at a flea market. The illustrations on the wall that I'd drawn myself, ten years of small moments between us.

If I was leaving, I should leave clean.

At three in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. I thought it was a delivery. I opened the door and found Whitney standing there.

She wore a cream trench coat and held a clear umbrella. I'd put that umbrella in the trunk of Graham's car myself, just last month.

"Hi, Nora." She smiled at me. "Graham left some important documents at my place. I was passing by, so I thought I'd drop them off."

She held out a brown envelope.

I didn't take it. I looked at her instead, and my eyes landed on the diamond necklace just visible at her throat.

Graham had bought it at an auction the month before. He said it was a present to himself, to celebrate the firm's fifth anniversary.

The funny part is that the money that started that firm ten years ago came from selling the only necklace my mother ever left me.

"He's not home," I said.

"Oh, really?" Whitney put a hand over her mouth. "I thought he had the day off. He was at my place until late last night fixing my pipes, so I figured he'd be home with you today."

A year ago I would have been shaking. I would have thrown that envelope in her face.

Now I just stood in the doorway and looked at her, and all I felt was that she was pathetic.

"Leave it by the door." I started to close it.

"Nora." She stopped me. She lowered her umbrella, took a step closer, and dropped her voice.

"Graham is exhausted. You put too much pressure on him. What he needs is a woman who understands him and stands behind him. Not someone who nags him further and further away."

I looked at that pretty face of hers and started to laugh.

"What's funny?" She frowned.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "If you want him, take him. I'm not fighting for him anymore."

That threw her. She'd clearly come with a whole speech ready to get under my skin, and she hadn't planned for this.

I shut the door in her face.

Graham came home that evening. The first thing he saw was the envelope on the hall table.

"Whitney came by?" His voice went tight right away.

I was on the couch with a glass of warm water in my hands. I didn't look at him. "Mm."

He crossed the room, took the glass out of my hand, and set it down hard on the coffee table.

"What did you say to her? She texted me. She's upset. She said you've got the wrong idea about us."

I looked up at him. He was furious, and his eyes were full of worry and hurt, and none of it was for me.

"I didn't say anything," I said.

"You think I'd believe that?" He let out a cold laugh. "Nora, when did you get so mean? She's a single mother with a kid. Her life is hard enough. Why do you have to go after her?"

My stomach twisted again. That sweet, metallic taste came up in my throat.

I clenched my jaw and swallowed the blood back down.

"Graham." I looked at him. My voice came out very quiet. "Let's get divorced."

He froze, like he hadn't understood the words. A few seconds passed before it registered, and then he laughed at me.

"Divorce? Nora, what game is this? You're threatening me with a divorce? You think I'll fall for that?"

He yanked his tie loose and paced back and forth across the living room.

"I'm out there breaking my back every day so you can live in a house this size. So you can be comfortable and play housewife. What exactly are you unhappy about? I did a friend a couple of favors and now you're throwing a fit about divorce?"

Housewife.

So that's what I was to him. Something he paid for.

He'd forgotten about the necklace. He'd forgotten that half the drawings he stayed up all night on were colored in by me.

Sitting there, I realized there was no point in explaining any of it.

"I'll draw up the agreement." I stood, and the pain in my stomach made me bend forward a little. "I don't want anything."

He stopped pacing and stared at me. Something like panic crossed his face, but the anger covered it fast.

"Fine! You said it, not me." He pointed at my face, jaw tight. "Don't come crying to me later, Nora. You think you can live like this without me?"

His phone rang. It was the ringtone he'd set for Whitney.

He looked at the screen and picked up immediately.

"Hey, Whitney, what's wrong? What? He's running a fever? Okay, don't panic, I'm on my way."

He hung up, grabbed his keys, and headed for the door. He stopped there for a second without turning around.

"You should move out tomorrow. It'll be easier on everyone."

The door slammed behind him.

I stood alone in the living room and finally let myself double over. A mouthful of dark blood came up and landed on the white carpet.

I got a tissue and cleaned it off the carpet, bit by bit.