2

Holding that photo, I finally understood something. The mother I'd mourned all night really was gone.

I carried the portrait toward the door.

Adrian asked, "Where are you going?"

"To get my things."

He called out to me. "If you show up at the condo dressed like that, you'll scare Nina."

I turned around.

"Then tell her not to look."

Adrian's face hardened.

"Don't push it."

A minute ago, he had been worried about me.

But the moment I mentioned Nina, that worry vanished.

When I got to the condo, my password didn't work.

I tried it three times. Nothing.

Then the door opened. Nina stood there wearing my beige slippers.

Adrian had bought those slippers for me.

He used to complain whenever I went barefoot. He'd tell me the floor was too cold and I'd get sick.

Now Nina was wearing them.

There was a cake in the living room with "Nina, Welcome Home" written across it.

In the primary bedroom, my clothes were gone. Our photo had been replaced by a wedding photo of Adrian and Nina.

Adrian came out carrying a mug of warm water with honey.

He used to make that for me whenever my stomach hurt. Now it was for Nina.

I asked, "Where are my things?"

Nina pointed toward the entryway.

"Evelyn, I had the housekeeper pack them up for you."

Three black garbage bags sat there, stuffed with my nightgowns, sketches, old photos, and the scarf I was halfway through knitting for Adrian.

I crouched down to pick them up.

Adrian glanced at Nina before frowning.

"Who told you to put her things in garbage bags?"

Nina's eyes filled with tears.

"I only wanted to pack them up for her."

"Don't touch her things."

For one stupid second, the ice inside me began to melt.

Then Adrian picked up the album.

"Nina didn't mean anything by it. I'll apologize for her."

I asked, "And the condo?"

Nina grabbed his arm.

"Maybe I should move out. I don't want Evelyn to be homeless because of me."

Adrian answered immediately, "You're not moving."

I said, "My brother told me the condo is already in her name."

Adrian's face stiffened.

"Grant lied about that. The title hasn't been transferred. He just said that to make Nina happy."

I looked at him.

"So you knew that was a lie too?"

Adrian avoided my eyes.

"The title is still in my name. But I changed the lock and made Nina the main contact with building management. She's staying here tonight."

So the condo was still legally his.

But that hadn't stopped them from changing the locks and removing me from everything else.

They'd already erased me from my own home.

I asked, "Then where do I live?"

"I'll book you a hotel."

He paused, then added, "I'll stay with you tonight."

"She gets the condo, and I get a hotel?"

"Don't put it like that."

"Then you put it."

Adrian reached out to touch my hair.

"She stays here for now. You stay with me. Okay? You still have me."

Whatever dignity I had left shattered.

He said, "The money from your grandmother's cottage, I'll pay back every cent."

"I didn't lend you that money. I put it toward our home."

Adrian was quiet for a moment.

"The condo is in my name."

When we bought it, he'd held me and said we'd be married soon. He said it didn't matter whose name was on the title. Apparently, it mattered now.

Adrian grabbed my arm.

"You look terrible. Go to the hotel."

I shook him off.

His patience finally snapped.

"Evelyn, I already promised I'd stay with you tonight. What else do you want? I'm still yours."

Nina choked out through her tears, "Then should I just give Adrian back to you?"

Adrian grabbed her hand immediately.

"Nonsense."

His answer came so fast, I couldn't even bring myself to laugh.

I bent down to gather my things.

One of the bags tore, and the album fell open to a photo of my grandmother's cottage.

That cottage was gone.

I thought I had traded it for a home.

Instead, I'd given away the last place that had ever truly been mine.