Chapter 2

"I'm not finished. Don't do that again. I don't like it.

"You made that same face the last time I drove one of your coworkers home. Do you have any idea how mean it makes you look?"

I shot upright, my eyes stinging, and glared at him.

"Mean? I told you! Brianna and I have bad blood. She stole my client to get her promotion. Then she has the nerve to ask us for rides, and I'm supposed to smile and welcome her?"

Evan answered calmly, as if he'd seen right through me.

"See? There you go again. Another excuse. You're not just selfish now. You've always got an excuse for it, too."

That made me explode. I didn't care who was sitting in the back seat anymore.

"So asking your coworkers to get out makes me selfish?

"I'm sick tonight. My stomach hurts, and I feel terrible. Wanting to go home first is an excuse?

"Let me be very clear. There is no law that says I'm obligated to drive your coworkers home from work!"

The car went dead silent. Several seconds passed before Evan spoke.

"There's no law that says a husband has to pick his wife up from work either. And I still do it every day, don't I?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Evan, you're the one who offered to drive me to and from work every day. I never put a gun to your head!"

Evan sighed.

"I didn't say I don't want to drive you. I'm saying if I'm already picking you up, bringing along a couple of coworkers doesn't change anything.

"Denise's husband works out of town. She's raising a kid mostly on her own. If we can make her life a little easier, why wouldn't we—"

"Stop the car!"

I couldn't stand to hear another word.

I'd never told him not to give his coworkers rides. All the times he'd done it before, I hadn't said a thing.

Tonight was different. I was sick, and I wanted to get home early. And he'd turned that into a moral failing.

I couldn't take it anymore. As his wife, I didn't get a single bit of special treatment. I was dead last on his list.

"Let me out!"

Evan pulled over. I slammed the door and, under his stunned stare, turned and walked into the storm.

"Mara! Why do you have to be so dramatic?"

He leaned on the horn behind me, but I didn't look back.

I paid twice the normal fare for a private ride home.

After a hot shower, I locked the bedroom door, took some ibuprofen and cold medicine, and fell into a heavy sleep.

By the next morning, the dragging ache in my lower abdomen hadn't eased. It was worse, as if someone were carving at me from the inside with a knife.

I didn't even have the strength to stand. I called in sick and lay in bed, drifting in and out until the pain knocked me out.

When the pain woke me again, it was six in the evening.

Cold sweat kept breaking out all over me, and I was burning up. Every time I moved, a tearing pain shot through the lower right side of my abdomen.

This wasn't period cramps!

With shaking hands, I called Evan to ask whether he was off work and could take me to the hospital.

There were two seconds of silence. Then his irritated voice came through the phone.

"Can you stop? I'm still mad about yesterday, and now you're faking being sick to get sympathy?"

I screamed at him. "I'm actually sick! Come home and take me to the hospital right now!"

Evan paused.

"I can't today. I took Denise to pick up her daughter from preschool.

"There's a parent event at the preschool. It ends in half an hour, and then I have to take them home."

I was so angry I wanted to throw my phone.

"Evan! Which one of us is your wife, me or her?

"Why is she more important than me? I'm sick. I need to go to the hospital. Are you coming home or not?"

Evan was clearly furious too. His voice rose.

"You're getting more unreasonable by the day!

"How can your mind go somewhere so dirty? Denise is way older than me! Her husband's never around, and she's raising a kid on her own. What's wrong with me helping out? Can you stop being so unreasonable?"

I took a deep breath, pressing hard on my cramping stomach.

"Fine. Maybe I was wrong. Come home and take me to the hospital, and I'll believe there's nothing going on between you two."

That only made him angrier.

"Mara, what happened to you?

"You can't even keep your lies straight. You've never had bad period cramps in your life. You used that excuse yesterday, and I didn't even bother calling you out on it. I can't believe you're trying it again today."

My stomach hurt so much I thought I was dying, and he was still lecturing me.

All the hurt I'd been holding in crashed over me at once. I broke down and screamed into the phone.

"Evan, are you coming or not? If you don't come home, we're getting a divorce!"

The only answer was the call ending.

Right before he hung up, I heard a little girl ask, "Mr. Evan, are you fighting with somebody?"

"Some crazy person called the wrong number," Evan said.

I looked in the mirror. Pale face, cracked lips, hair a mess. I really did look like a crazy person.

I wiped away my tears and picked up my phone to call an ambulance. Then I thought about how much it would cost, and ordered a rideshare to the hospital instead.

As I was leaving the apartment, Evan sent me a message.