Chapter 2

Sal showed up with two guys in tow.

One was a middle-aged guy with a beer gut and a thick gold chain.

The other was younger, looking sharp with a buzz cut and a full tattoo sleeve.

"Evelyn, meet the guys. Both of them are itching to take this place off your hands," Sal said, full of energy.

"Mr. Dawson, Mr. Hayes," I nodded. "Make yourselves at home. Take a look."

The gold-chain guy, Dawson, took a quick lap around the place.

"Nice reno, great neighborhood. But..."

He glanced at the shattered glass on the floor.

"Rough morning?"

"Nope," I said. "Divorce."

Dawson and Sal both froze for a second.

The younger guy, Hayes, actually smirked.

"Damn," he said. "I like your style."

"I prefer doing business with people who don't play games."

He didn't even bother looking at the rest of the rooms. He just walked right up to me.

"I'll take the deal Sal mentioned."

"Ten percent under market, all cash, we sign the papers today."

Sal stammered, "Wait, Hayes... Mr. Dawson hasn't even—"

Dawson just waved a hand. "Nah, I'm out. I don't need the drama."

He turned and walked out the door.

Sal looked a little awkward.

Hayes didn't care at all.

He locked eyes with me. "So, we got a deal or what?"

My mind went back to three years ago.

The very first time Eric and I got into it in this house.

It was because his mother insisted she had to have the master bedroom because it got the best sunlight.

Even though that was supposed to be our room.

Eric told me to just give it up.

"Evelyn, come on, she's my mom," he'd said. "Just show some respect, okay?"

I told him no.

It was my house. My parents paid for it.

That was the first time I saw that cold, nasty look on his face.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?"

In the end, I folded.

We moved into the small, chilly guest room.

I thought playing nice would buy me some peace.

Instead, it just gave them permission to walk all over me.

They treated me like an appliance that came with the house.

Like furniture they could just move around whenever it suited them.

Well, today I was resetting the whole damn house.

"We have a deal," I told Hayes. "Let's go to the office and sign the papers right now."

Hayes's eyes lit up. "Hell yeah! Consider it sold!"

Sal snapped out of it, beaming. "Great! Let's get this show on the road!"

Everything went fast. Like, scary fast.

By 4 PM, we were sitting in the conference room at the agency.

Hayes had his lawyer with him.

I'd called my best friend, Rachel, who's a shark of an attorney.

Rachel looked at me like I'd lost my mind when I first called.

She thought I was having some kind of breakdown.

"Evelyn, are you 100% sure about this?"

"I've never been more sober in my life."

Rachel stared at me for a long beat.

Then she finally sighed.

"Alright. I'm in."

"That loser doesn't deserve a dime of your life."

Rachel went through the contract line by line.

Hayes's lawyer didn't mess around either.

They hashed out the details in record time.

The total came to five hundred thousand dollars.

Hayes cut a check for a two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar deposit on the spot.

The rest would hit my account the second the title transfer was finished.

Since it was a pre-marital asset and only my name was on the deed, it was a clean break.

No red tape. No complications.

And zero need for Eric's signature.

We signed the papers and made it official.

Hayes had his finance guy wire the money immediately.

My phone buzzed.

A bank alert popped up.

Your account ending in xxxx has received a deposit of $250,000.00.

I stared at the zeros.

I didn't feel anything. No regret, no fear.

Rachel grabbed my arm, her face lit up.

"Evelyn! You actually did it!"

I just gave her a weak smile.

Hayes stood up and reached across the table.

"Good doing business with you, Evelyn."

"Likewise," I said, shaking his hand.

Then he asked, "So, can I take possession of the keys now?"

"Be my guest."

"Here."

I dropped the heavy keychain on the table.

Eric's key. Candace's key. Brittany's key.

Every single one of their spare keys was on that ring.

And none of them worked for me anymore.

Hayes scooped them up.

"Sweet."

"I'm gonna go get those locks changed right now."

"Go for it."

He headed out with his lawyer.

Sal got his commission and was grinning like he'd won the lottery.

Finally, it was just me and Rachel left in the room.

She gave me a huge hug. "It's over, babe."

"No."

I leaned my head on her shoulder.

"This is just the beginning."

I still had one last move to make.

The divorce.

I pulled out my phone and opened the chat with Eric.

They should be landing in Aspen by now.

I started typing a message.

Then I paused and deleted it.

No rush.

I wanted him to come home first.

I wanted to see the look on his face when he stood in front of a door he could no longer open.

I wanted him to know exactly what it felt like to have the rug pulled out from under him.

Rachel asked, "So what now? You gonna find a rental?"

"Yeah."

"I'll help you look."

"No, I've got it."

I wanted to make every single decision on my own.

From here on out.

I booked a room at a nice hotel for the week.

Then I started browsing listings.

I wanted something small. A one-bedroom condo. Just for me.

Somewhere close to the office.

I still had my career.

My life wasn't going to stop just because I cut out some dead weight.

Later that night, Eric sent a message.

It was a photo.

The bright blue sky and white powder of an Aspen ski slope.

Caption: Hey babe, we're here! Everything's perfect.

Oh, so he actually remembered he had a wife. How touching.

I stared at the picture.

In the corner, I could see Brittany flashing a peace sign.

And Candace in her oversized sunglasses, looking like she owned the place.

They looked so damn happy.

Good for them.

I locked my screen.

I really hope you guys enjoy your vacation.

Because when you get back, you're going to be very, very homeless.