Chapter 2

Eileen's POV

"The project wrapped early."

I set my bag down by the door and look past him, to Ivy curled up in the corner of the couch.

"Ivy, come here. Come to Mom."

Ivy runs straight over and throws herself into my arms.

She's rigid against me, her fingers clutching my shirt.

Nolan comes over and explains, a little too casually, "We were just playing a game."

"What game?"

"Just a little father-daughter secret."

He laughs, trying to brush it off.

I look down and smooth Ivy's hair.

"She's too little to be keeping secrets."

Nolan's smile goes stiff.

I pick Ivy up and carry her toward her room.

Behind me, Nolan's phone buzzes. He glances at the screen and turns away fast, like he doesn't want me to see.

In my arms, Ivy asks in a small voice, "Mom, will you always hold me?"

"Always."

"Is Daddy still mad?"

"No."

I lay her down on the bed and tuck the blanket around her.

"Ivy, you never have to be afraid that someone won't love you. You didn't do anything wrong."

She nods, but the tears come anyway.

The next morning I fry Ivy an egg like always.

Outside the kitchen window the sky isn't all the way light yet, and the oil sizzles softly in the pan. Ivy sits at the table, taking small sips of milk.

Nolan comes out of the bedroom with an easy smile, like nothing happened.

"Morning, honey. Did you sleep okay?"

"Fine."

I put the egg down in front of Ivy without looking at him.

Nolan comes up behind me and reaches to put his arms around me. I twist away, and his hands stop in midair.

"I'll go pack Ivy's backpack."

I bend down, scoop up my daughter, and turn to leave the kitchen.

That weekend, out of nowhere, Nolan offers to take us to the mall.

"It's been forever since I took my girls shopping," he says. "Today's on me."

Before, a line like that would've had me smiling all day.

Now that sweetness just feels like a cheap cover-up.

The mall is packed. Ivy holds my hand, and as we pass a kids' clothing store she stops short.

In the window is a pair of pink shoes, a little silver star on the front that catches the light.

Ivy's eyes light up too.

"Daddy, can I have these?"

Nolan walks over and checks the price tag.

"Three hundred bucks?"

His tone drops right away.

"Ivy, you're growing so fast you'll outgrow them in a couple months. What's the point of shoes that cost this much?"

The light slowly fades from Ivy's eyes.

Nolan grabs a plain pair of sneakers off the clearance rack and drops them straight into the basket.

"These are fine. Kids need to learn the value of a dollar."

Ivy puts the pink shoes back on the shelf.

"Okay, Daddy."

I watch her fight to hold back the tears, and my chest goes tight.

I pick the pink shoes back up and hand them to the clerk.

"We'll take these."

Nolan frowns. "Eileen, what are you doing?"

"Buying Ivy shoes."

"Spoil her now and she'll be impossible later." He drops his voice. "She'll want the priciest of everything. Then what?"

I take out my own card.

"It's my money, and I'm buying my daughter shoes with it. You don't get a say."

The card goes through.

A few shoppers turn to look, and Nolan's face goes dark.

He doesn't want to keep arguing in front of everyone, so he pulls the clearance sneakers back out of the basket.

"You've been getting more and more unreasonable lately."

I take the bag.

"Back when I was reasonable, did you ever listen?"

That shuts him up.

Right then, his phone rings.

Nolan steps off to the side to take it, and just like that the dark look drops off his face.

"Emily? What's up?"

I stand there holding the shoe bag, watching him across the crowd.

"Hannah wants that piano? Of course she can have it." His voice goes soft, coaxing. "If she likes it, I don't care what it costs. Don't feel bad about it. Call it a birthday present from her uncle."

One piano. Enough to buy every pair of kids' shoes in that store.

Nolan hangs up and comes back to us, a pleased little smile still on his face.

Back at the documentary studio, Nolan makes an announcement at the leadership meeting.

"To grow our overseas distribution, I'm appointing Emily Warren as director of international distribution."

The room goes so quiet all you can hear is the air conditioning.

Emily has no experience with any of it. She can't even follow the contract terms in a few of the key markets. Her supposed overseas background is just something Nolan cooked up to make her look qualified.

On top of that, international distribution has always been my job.

Nolan looks at me, his voice full of fake concern.

"Eileen, you've been so worn out lately. Taking care of Ivy and handling company business at the same time. Let Emily take the overseas projects for now. Hand your clients and contacts over to her and get some rest."

A few of the older shareholders frown.

But I just nod, calm.

"Okay."

Nolan visibly relaxes, unable to keep the delight off his face.

"I knew I could count on you to be reasonable."

After the meeting, I go back to my office and get all the handover documents ready. In my drawer, the divorce papers are already signed.

I slip off my ring and set it next to them.

The door opens and Nolan comes in.

"Eileen, you're not upset about the meeting, are you? I really did it for your sake. Emily just needs a job. I'm only giving her a hand."

"You don't have to explain."

"I knew you'd get it."

He reaches out to hold me, but I step away.