2

The keypad code hadn't changed.

I pushed the door open and spotted a pair of pink slippers in Chloe's size on the entryway cabinet.

Out on the balcony, the crib I'd bought for the baby had been shoved aside and piled high with her clothes.

I stood in the doorway for a long time before I dragged my suitcase into the bedroom.

Half the closet was empty, and Chloe's skincare products covered my vanity.

The bedroom door clicked open.

Chloe came out of the bathroom wearing my silk pajamas. When she saw me, panic crossed her face.

"Nora, what are you doing back?"

"This is my home."

I looked at the crowded vanity, then the closet.

"Who gave you permission to move into my bedroom and wear my clothes?"

Her eyes went red as she explained. Julian had been worried she wasn't safe living alone, so he'd had her move in.

I unzipped her suitcase. It was stuffed full of clothes.

"Nora, I'll move out right away."

"You'd better."

I took out the deed and set it in front of her.

"This place is mine. Move out as soon as you can. I'm selling it."

Chloe froze.

"You just lost the baby, and now you're selling the house? Julian's going to be so hurt."

At the mention of my baby, tears stung my eyes again.

"So you do know I just lost my baby."

I turned to pack up my documents, and a photo from the amusement park slipped out of Julian's jacket.

In it, he was standing by the carousel, wiping Chloe's tears, and she was hugging his arm and laughing.

The time printed on the back was half an hour after they'd wheeled me into surgery.

I'd known they were together, but seeing him smiling beside Chloe while I was in surgery still felt like a punch to the gut.

Chloe reached for it, but I grabbed it first.

"One of the staff members just snapped that. Don't read too much into it."

Beneath the photo lay a receipt for a souvenir package for two, charged to the joint account I shared with Julian.

I stared at the amount, my voice so quiet I could barely hear it myself. "Did he know I was waiting for surgery?"

Chloe looked away and said nothing.

I slowly folded up the photo. It felt like the incision in my stomach had been torn open all over again.

My phone buzzed. A text from Julian. "Are you home?"

Then another. "Chloe says you're selling the house. Stop this."

I called him. "Julian, I've already got a real estate agent lined up."

"Don't stir things up right now. And why didn't you ask me before deciding to sell?"

"Did you ask me before you moved Chloe in?"

He was quiet for a few seconds. "She's only staying for a while."

I looked at the pajamas Chloe had on. "She's wearing my clothes and sleeping in my bed. You call that staying for a while?"

Beside me, Chloe said in a small voice, "Julian, this is all my fault. I'll go to a hotel right now."

Julian's voice turned cold. "Nora, you insisted on kicking her out. Happy now?"

My fingers tightened around the phone. "I'm not the one who moved her in. You chose this."

I hung up and called the agent.

Early the next morning, the agent brought a buyer to see the place.

Chloe sat in the living room crying quietly, and somehow that made everyone who walked in think I was the cruel one.

"And who's this?" the agent asked.

"Someone who's staying here for a while."

I handed over the paperwork. "The title's clean. Everything in the house will be cleared out before closing."

The buyer looked over the documents and agreed to sign on the terms we'd discussed.

Chloe looked up at me through her tears. "Nora, you're really selling it?"

I put the keys on the table, my voice flat and final. "Yes. All of you, out by tonight."

I dragged my suitcase out the door.

As the elevator doors slid shut, I caught my own red eyes in the reflection.

The house was sold, but I didn't feel much lighter.

I was leaving behind the furniture and curtains I'd picked out myself, and the crib too.

I wiped away my tears and made myself a promise.

I'd never make room for Julian in my life again.