Chapter 1

I'd just stepped out the door when the security guards stationed downstairs marched up to me. Noah Wesley, the man Moira had called out to earlier, must have summoned the security guards from property management instead when he realized calling the police was a futile exercise.

I explained the full story to the security guards and even showed them the marriage certificate I carried on my person at all times.

As they were leaving, one of the security guards gave me a sympathetic clap on the shoulder. "Hey, buddy, your lady's already cheating on you under your roof. Do you need us to go in there and have a few words with them?"

I flashed them a bitter smile and shook my head, thanking them softly. I didn't need to resort to that. What use was there for such confrontation, anyway? After all, Moira had implicitly allowed all this to happen.

After the security guards had gone, I glanced over my shoulder at the front door, then turned to leave. But I'd barely taken a few steps when Moira suddenly walked out the door and caught up to me.

Gripping my hand, she demanded with some impatience, "You said you weren't coming home for New Year's! What are you doing back here? Why do you always do stuff without asking me first?

"Did you even consider my plans when you decided to drop in? It's been years, and you're still behaving the same way!"

I stared at the face I'd spent days and nights missing. It was now full of fury as she assessed me, and only complaints and accusations poured from her mouth.

I couldn't understand what was so wrong about my wanting to surprise Moira.

An exasperated sigh escaped Moira when I stayed silent throughout her tirade, and she softened. "Oh, alright, I know you came home to spend New Year's with me, but I really can't do that this year.

"I've got stuff going on, but I'll explain everything to you once the festivities are over, okay? Hit up a friend and crash at their place for now. I'll go over and see you after I've sorted out things on my end."

She was about to say something more when the front door behind her swung open. The woman whom Moira had referred to as "Francine" emerged.

Upon seeing Moira and me standing together, Francine gasped. She snapped out of her daze and exclaimed with a face full of fear, "Moira, come here now! Don't let him hurt you!"

Moira looked at me with some hesitation when she heard her mother's warning. She whispered, "Play along."

Before her words sank in for me, she raised her hand and slapped me twice. After that, she whirled and bolted toward the door. "The police are on their way! You'll be arrested, just you wait!"

As she yelled her warning, she winked at me hard, signaling me to leave.

The corner of my lips twitched as I beheld the anxious woman before me, then I spun on my heels and left. I'd only wanted to surprise Moira, but all I got from her in the span of half an hour were three slaps across the face.

She'd told me to crash at a friend's place, but she seemed to have forgotten that I had no friends in this city.

I had no idea where to go when I left the neighborhood, so I found a bench by the road and plopped down with careless grace. At some point, it started snowing.

I watched the snow flurry through the air, my first meeting with Moira playing through my mind.

Moira and I met while we were traveling. I'd broken away from my traveling buddies, and my car had run out of gas, leaving me stranded on the road on a snowy night.

The world around me was blanketed in white, and the breeze carried with it a bone-deep chill. For a moment, devastation seized me, and living felt pointless after the death of the person who'd loved me most—my grandmother.