Chapter 4

"You knew we had never gotten a marriage license. Why did you let me live as your wife for five years?"

I placed the No Record of Marriage Statement on the dining table. Daniel didn't sit down. He answered calmly, "Our wedding was witnessed by family and friends. That promise was real."

"The promise was real, but the registration was a lie. Why didn't you fix it?"

Daniel glanced at Claire. She was crouching by the pet pen, giving Buddy his medication. At those words, her fingers froze in midair.

"Claire just ended her marriage. She's in a bad place." Daniel softened his voice. "I can't make her feel like she's completely lost me when she's at her most vulnerable."

"So you're going to keep letting her believe you still belong to her?"

"That's not what I said."

"Then why does she treat you like her husband?"

Claire stood up, exhausted, her voice thin. "Eileen, I can move out. I don't want you two fighting because of me."

"You don't have to move." Daniel cut her off immediately. "You can't live alone right now. An unfamiliar environment will set back your recovery."

"I could rent a short-term place near the vet clinic."

"Claire, you had an episode just last night. You can't make this kind of decision today."

I looked at him. "Then what decision are you making for me?"

"Go stay with Aunt Linda for a while."

"For how long?"

"Until Claire's next follow-up is done. I'll sort everything out."

"Sort out her condition, or sort out our nonexistent marriage?"

Daniel walked up to me and reached for the statement. "I'll give you an answer about the marriage license."

I put the paper back in my bag. "You're asking me to move out of my own home and leave it for Claire."

"It's only temporary."

"The apartment is in my name. The car is in my name. You are not my husband, you are not on the lease, and you have no ownership stake. Yet you have been using my home and my car to arrange someone else's life."

I placed the deed and vehicle registration on the table. Daniel's expression finally hardened. "We lived together for five years. Do you really have to start tallying up the property now?"

"I'm not the one keeping score. You divided up my life and gave it to someone else a long time ago."

Claire's eyes turned red. "I don't want to stay anymore."

"You're not leaving." Daniel turned to her, his voice far more firm than anything he'd said to me. "Eileen just needs time to come around. Don't put yourself through this."

"And when I can't come around, who arranges things for me?"

He didn't answer.

I sent the deed, vehicle registration, No Record of Marriage Statement, and screenshots of the access changes to Aunt Linda in a single message. "Please help me find a lawyer and a moving company."

She replied with one word. "Okay."

I then told Rosa to revoke Daniel's administrator privileges on the resident portal immediately. From then on, any change in occupants required my written approval. Rosa replied quickly: the account had been locked down.

Daniel watched me gather my documents. "Eileen, are you really going to walk away while Claire is going through the hardest time of her life?"

"Didn't you say adults should learn to take care of themselves?"

"I just want you to calm down first."

"I'm perfectly calm."

He was quiet for a moment, then pulled a new marriage-license appointment confirmation from a drawer. "I made an appointment for next week. As soon as Claire's follow-up is over, we'll go apply."

This promise was no different from the one five years ago. Back then, he told me the paperwork was already done and the official documents just needed time to arrive.

I took the car keys and my documents. "I'm done waiting."

"Eileen." Daniel gripped my wrist, then let go just as quickly. "You know I do love you."

"I know."

"Then why can't you give me a little more time?"

"Because I already gave you five years."

I dragged my suitcase to the door. Behind me, Claire's voice dropped to a murmur. "Daniel, my chest feels tight."

The next second, he grabbed his jacket and the spare car key and rushed out. "Eileen, wait. Don't go yet. I'll take Claire to the hospital and come right back."

I turned to face him. "Don't bother coming back."

He ignored me. He was already opening the door of my SUV.

Before leaving the garage, I had used tools borrowed from the maintenance room to drain the coolant into a recycling container. I had no intention of letting Daniel use my car to chase me. I had the main key with me, but he had hidden a spare all along.

A bright red warning lit up the dashboard: COOLING SYSTEM MALFUNCTION. STOP IMMEDIATELY.

Daniel glanced at it once and pressed the gas anyway.