Chapter 7

Over the next few days, Yale was unusually busy. Riley watched him leave early and come home late, his phone never leaving his side and the light in his study often burning well past midnight.

She knew exactly what he was doing. He was carefully planning his grand gesture of crashing Selise's wedding.

On the morning their mandatory divorce waiting period ended, Riley left the house early to collect her finalized divorce certificate from her lawyer. The division of their assets had already been settled, and apart from that, she was taking only her personal belongings.

When she returned home, Yale was standing in front of the full-length mirror, adjusting his tie. He wore a brand-new navy suit, its cuff links gleaming coldly in the morning light. Riley had never seen him wear it before. He must have bought it especially for today.

"Back from your walk?" He caught her reflection in the mirror and smiled warmly. "Baby, I've got something to take care of today. Stay home and get some rest, okay? And don't forget to take your medicine."

Turning toward her, he gently stroked her stomach with his long fingers.

"You behave yourself today," he murmured to the baby. "Don't give Mommy any trouble. If you make her feel sick, Daddy's going to be upset."

Riley looked at the tenderness in his eyes and almost laughed at the irony.

He would walk through fire for Selise, yet he didn't even know his own child was gone.

Clutching the divorce papers in her hand, she said, "There's something I need to tell you."

Yale paused. "Baby, I'm just about to leave."

"Are you really in that much of a hurry?" she asked softly. "You can't spare me five minutes?"

He glanced at his watch but still shook his head. "Can we talk tonight instead?"

"Is it really that important?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitation, his eyes filled with an almost obsessive determination. "More important than my life."

A faint smile touched Riley's lips, fleeting as the last snowflake of winter.

"Then go," she said quietly. "Don't let me hold you up."

Yale looked as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely kissed her forehead before hurrying out.

Once the sound of his car had faded into the distance, Riley went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator that no one had thought to check.

Cold air washed over her as she retrieved the gift box that had been sitting there untouched for days. She carried it into the living room and gently placed it on the coffee table.

Inside, the five-month-old fetus lay curled in formalin, almost as though it were sleeping.

Riley closed her eyes for a moment before placing her newly issued divorce certificate beside the box.

Then she picked up her suitcase and walked out the front door without looking back.

The airport terminal was bustling with travelers. Her flight was about to take off, and she was just reaching to turn off her phone when a message from Yale appeared.

[Baby, I left your medicine warming in the kitchen. I'll be home to keep you company as soon as I'm done.]

"Yale Sullivan, for the rest of my life, you'll never be the one keeping me company.

"I've kicked you out of my world for good," Riley thought to herself.

Without a trace of hesitation, she deleted his message. Then she erased every photo of them together from her phone before finally deleting all his contact information.

As the plane lifted into the sky, she could almost hear something click inside her, as though she'd pressed Delete on one last thing.

Every last bit of love she'd ever felt for him.