Chapter 2

I had to either swallow my disgust and raise Rowan's son, or take my sick daughter and walk out with nothing. I couldn't stomach either option.

Five years of marriage, five years of holding her life and her career together, and she wanted me and my daughter to leave with absolutely nothing to show for it.

So I stayed.

But five years had passed, and she hadn't shown me or Leona a shred of affection. Whatever capacity she'd had for love and devotion seemed to have died right alongside Rowan. The only warmth she had left, she saved for his son.

It hit me all at once that everything I'd endured over the years had just been a joke to her. A decade of love and devotion had gone up in smoke, burned away by accusations she never stopped making because she'd never once trusted me.

I looked her in the eye, my voice steady and calm. "I want to choose again. This time, I'm taking Leona and leaving."

Elise stared at me and let out a thin, dismissive laugh.

"Leaving?" she said. "Ian, if you leave me, can you even afford to feed yourself and a child? Go back to the bedroom and stop embarrassing me in front of all these people."

She shot a look at the household staff before she'd even finished talking. A few of them rushed over, grabbed me by the arms without a word, and shoved me toward the bedroom. The door locked from the outside.

The soundproofing in that room was never great, and I could still hear every word.

"I don't know what's gotten into him. He's got the good life handed to him on a silver platter, and he'd rather humiliate Ms. Berton in front of the cameras."

"So what if he's raising a dead man's kid? He's a parasite living off Ms. Berton's money. He should just grit his teeth and deal with it."

A parasite. That's what they thought of me.

When Elise and I first got together, she was broke and couldn't afford her next meal. I was the one who poured every cent of my savings into getting her business off the ground. I was the one who stayed up through the night, drinking with clients and schmoozing until I landed her first major deal.

And I was the one who chose to step back and hold down the home front when her career got too demanding to manage a personal life.

Now, to everyone around us, I was nothing but a parasite feeding off her success.

I slid down the door and sat on the floor with my back against it. The noise outside died down eventually. Then Elise pulled the door open, and as she stepped through, her foot caught me in the side.

It didn't hurt, but something about it was the last thing I could take. Tears spilled over before I could stop them.

I was about to let myself fall apart completely when a piece of clothing landed on my head, draping over my face.

"Don't cry," she said. "Ian, you're good with a needle and thread, if I remember right. Mend this for me."

I pulled the fabric off my head. It was a white men's dress shirt, slightly worn at the cuffs.

My tears froze instantly, and I couldn't cry anymore.

The humiliation hit me so hard and so fast that it circled all the way around to something that almost felt like laughter.

I recognized this shirt. In this house, there were two walk-in closets. One held my clothes and the kids' things.

The other held Elise's wardrobe and Rowan's. Rowan was dead, but Elise insisted on keeping a man who no longer existed present in every part of her life.

I took a breath and threw the shirt on the floor.

"Elise, I'm not joking around. I can't do this anymore. I want a divorce."

I meant every word. But Elise acted like she hadn't heard a single word. She undid her buttons and held her arms out to the sides.

"Come help me change. Hurry up, I just promised Gus I'd read him a bedtime story."

I walked over to her but didn't move to help. I just repeated myself, barely above a whisper.

"I'm taking Leona and leaving."

This time, she actually looked at me. The contempt in her eyes was sharp enough to go right through me.

"Just tell me what you want to buy," she spat. "Ian, I've told you a thousand times, if you want something, just ask me directly. Stop playing these ridiculous games."

She pulled out a credit card and tucked it into the collar of my shirt. "That should keep you happy for a while."

Then she changed her own clothes, pushed past me, and walked out to Gus's bedroom.

The card hit the floor with a sharp little click. I stared at it for a long time before I finally let out a hollow laugh.

So that was it. In her eyes, I really was no different from a nanny she could shut up with a little spending money.

I wiped the tears away before they could fall and went to my daughter's room. Leona was awake, sitting up in bed, staring at nothing. She turned her head when she heard the door, and her bottom lip started to tremble.

"Daddy, did you and Mommy fight again?"

I shook my head. "Not exactly. But I want to leave Mommy. Will you come with me?"

Her eyes lit up. "Really? Daddy, I'm just like you. I'm not happy here at all."