Chapter 3

The phone continued ringing through the apartment.

James stared at it for a few seconds too long before finally walking toward the kitchen counter.

Lisa sat quietly at the dining table swinging her legs while hugging her teddy bear.

"Daddy, your food is getting cold."

James forced a smile.

"Yeah... one second, honey."

He picked up the phone.

"Kate?"

"Good morning. Am I speaking with Mr. James Sterling?"

James frowned immediately.

The voice on the other end was calm, professional, older.

"Who is this?"

"My name is Attorney Reeves. I'm calling regarding Mrs. Kate Sterling."

James straightened slightly.

For half a second, relief hit him.

Of course.

Kate sent a lawyer because she was angry.

She wanted leverage.

Money.

Space.

Something manageable.

"Look," James said quickly, rubbing his forehead. "Tell her she doesn't need to do all this. We can talk about it ourselves."

A brief silence answered him.

"I'm afraid you misunderstand the purpose of this call, Mr. Sterling."

James' stomach tightened slightly.

"Kate has already finalized the divorce proceedings."

The apartment suddenly felt quieter.

"What?"

"The documents were filed this morning. Your wife's legal team proceeded without your signature due to the circumstances outlined in the agreement."

James laughed once.

Not because it was funny.

Because his brain refused to process it.

"No, that's impossible."

"The divorce is legally binding, Mr. Sterling."

James gripped the edge of the marble counter tightly.

"No, she wanted space, that's all. She just left angry."

"I'm sorry."

The attorney's voice remained neutral.

"Custody arrangements and asset division details will be forwarded to your residence within the week."

James stopped hearing half the words after that.

Across the room, Lisa stared at him quietly.

Children noticed everything.

The way his shoulders stiffened.

The way his breathing changed.

The way his voice disappeared.

"Daddy?"

James blinked hard.

"Y-Yeah?"

Lisa tilted her head.

"Why do you look sad again?"

James swallowed.

Attorney Reeves was still speaking faintly through the phone.

James ended the call without another word.

The silence afterward was unbearable.

Then Lisa quietly stood from her chair and walked toward him.

She hugged his leg gently.

"It's okay, Daddy."

That almost broke him more than the divorce itself.

The park was nearly empty that afternoon.

Lisa sat on the swing kicking her legs happily while James pushed her gently from behind.

The weather was nice.

Too nice for his life to be collapsing.

"Daddy, higher!"

James forced another smile.

"Not too high."

Lisa giggled loudly as the swing drifted forward again.

Normally Kate came with them here.

Normally she'd sit nearby with coffee in hand while complaining that James pushed the swing too hard.

Now her side of the bench sat empty.

James stared at it for a long time.

"Daddy!"

He blinked.

"Sorry."

Lisa pouted dramatically.

"You're thinking too much again."

James almost laughed.

Five years old.

And already noticing things she shouldn't.

After a while, he bought her ice cream from a nearby cart.

Lisa sat beside him happily licking melting vanilla from the cone while her shoes dangled above the pavement.

James stared ahead silently.

Cars passed.

People walked.

Life kept moving.

Like nothing happened.

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

Lisa tilted her head.

"Where's mommy really?"

There it was.

The question he'd been avoiding all day.

James looked down at her tiny face.

How were you supposed to explain abandonment to a child?

He took a slow breath.

"Mommy..." he started carefully, "Mommy's going to live somewhere else for now."

Lisa frowned immediately.

"Why?"

James looked away toward the swings.

"Sometimes adults stop living together."

Lisa thought about that very seriously.

Then quietly, "Did I do something bad?"

James turned so fast it almost startled her.

"No."

The answer came out harshly.

He softened immediately.

"No, honey. Never think that."

Lisa looked down at her ice cream.

"Then why doesn't mommy wanna stay?"

James felt something sharp twist inside his chest.

Because she stopped loving us.

Because she found someone else.

Because your family broke apart overnight.

But none of those were things a child should carry.

So instead he simply said,

"I don't know."

Lisa stayed quiet for a while.

Lisa had heard things similar from her friends, jokingly; she remembered them saying, "If they don't tell you where they went, they're probably dead," a joke they'd made, not given a thought about how it would impact the person listening.

"Is mommy dead?"

James froze.

"...No."

Lisa nodded slowly.

Then strangely enough, that seemed to satisfy her.

Children understood absence differently.

If Kate wasn't dead, then somewhere in Lisa's mind, things could still become normal again.

A minute later she jumped off the bench and ran back toward the swings like the conversation never happened.

James stayed seated.

Watching her laugh alone on the playground nearly destroyed him.

She looked so small.

Too small.

And suddenly the entire future terrified him.

School meetings.

Nightmares.

Birthdays.

Questions he couldn't answer.

How was he supposed to do this alone?

The sun slowly began to set before James finally stood up.

"Lisa," he called softly.

"Time to go home."

By nighttime, Lisa was already half asleep.

James tucked the blanket around her carefully while her teddy bear remained trapped beneath one tiny arm.

"Daddy?"

James paused near the door.

"Hm?"

"Mommy's coming back, right ?"

The question hit harder in the dark.

James stood there silently for several seconds.

Then finally.

"Go to sleep, honey."

Lisa nodded sleepily.

Within minutes her breathing evened out.

James remained standing there long after she fell asleep.

Watching her chest rise and fall.

Making sure she was still there.

Still safe.

Still there with him. He didn't know what he would do if she wasn't, He quickly drowned out those thoughts.

Then quietly, without another word, he walked out of the room.

The alcohol burned going down.

Good.

James welcomed it.

The bar lights blurred together while voices echoed meaninglessly around him.

One drink became three.

Three became seven.

He stopped counting after that.

Somewhere along the line the grief inside him started mutating into something uglier.

Anger.

Humiliation.

How long had Kate wanted to leave?

How long had she been lying to him?

A woman in a tight red dress slid onto the stool beside him eventually.

"You look miserable."

James laughed bitterly.

"You have no idea."

She smiled lazily.

"Wanna make some money?"

* * *

The casino lights were violent.

Bright enough to hurt.

James sat at the poker table with bloodshot eyes while chips disappeared one after another beneath his shaking hands.

Lose.

Lose again.

Lose harder.

The woman in red leaned against his shoulder occasionally whispering encouragement he barely heard.

Around him people celebrated.

Laughed.

Won fortunes.

Meanwhile his own life kept sinking lower.

At some point he started gambling recklessly.

Not to win.

But because losing felt deserved.

One final hand.

Gone.

The dealer gave him an apologetic look.

James stared at the space where his money used to be.

"...Right."

Two security guards approached moments later.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to leave."

James didn't resist.

He barely even reacted.

Cold pavement pressed against his back outside the casino.

The city lights above him blurred strangely as he stared upward.

Somewhere nearby people laughed.

Cars passed.

Life continued.

James slowly covered his eyes with one arm.

For the first time all day, the silence finally settled over him completely.

Then footsteps approached.

Slow.

Measured.

James ignored them.

Until a voice spoke.

"...James Sterling?"

James slowly lowered his arm.

A tall figure stood over him beneath the casino lights.

And somehow—

They knew his name.