Chapter 5

Julian stared at me, clearly caught off guard. Then he frowned. "Enough, Claire. I'm exhausted. Go run me a bath, will you? And wash this while you're at it."

He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it to me.

There were lipstick marks all over the collar, and the fabric reeked of Chloe's unmistakably strong perfume.

Gross.

A few months ago, he wouldn't even have needed to ask. I would've gotten out of bed, run his bath, washed his clothes, and made sure everything was ready for him before he went to sleep.

Now, all I could think was how exhausting he was. I tossed the jacket straight back at him. "You have arms. Do it yourself."

Julian was genuinely stunned. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small jewelry box, and tossed it to me.

"I know you're still upset about what happened today. Here."

I opened the box to see a pair of silver earrings.

For a second, I could only stare. Julian had apparently forgotten that silver irritated my skin.

He'd also forgotten something even more basic. My ears weren't even pierced.

But the funniest part was, I'd seen those earrings before. Chloe had posted them on Instagram not long ago.

They were a pair she didn't even want.

I gave a humorless laugh and dropped the earrings straight into the trash. "If Chloe didn't want them, neither do I."

That was apparently the last straw. Julian's expression darkened. "Have I been too easy on you, Claire?"

A wave of exhaustion hit me, and I stifled a yawn. "I'm tired. If that's all you wanted, I'd like to go back to sleep."

My complete lack of reaction only seemed to make him angrier.

"Fine." Julian clenched his jaw. "You want me gone? I'm leaving. Just don't come crying to me when you regret it."

He turned toward the door.

"Wait."

Julian stopped. Slowly, the corner of his mouth lifted. The look on his face said it all. He thought I'd cracked.

He thought this entire night had been some elaborate attempt to get his attention, and now that he was actually walking away, I was finally going to beg him to stay.

Instead, I opened the nightstand drawer, pulled out a document and a pen, and held them out to him. "Sign this."

The hint of satisfaction vanished from Julian's face. "You stopped me for some stupid contract?"

I gave him a faint, mocking smile. "You might want to read it before you embarrass yourself."

Julian glanced down. The moment he saw the words at the top of the page, he froze. Then the pen snapped between his fingers.

"Divorce papers? You want a divorce?" Julian stared at me, his eyes narrowing. "Claire, enough. I know you're jealous of Chloe, but this is getting ridiculous."

"I'm not jealous. And I'm not bluffing. I want a divorce." My voice was calm.

For several seconds, Julian simply stared at me. Then he slammed the papers onto the nightstand. "I'm not signing them."

"That's your choice." I pulled the covers back over myself. "But you're not going to keep me married to you forever. It might make things take longer, but one way or another, this marriage is ending."

Julian clearly had no comeback. He clenched his jaw, let out an angry scoff, and stormed out of the room, making a point of stomping down the hallway as loudly as possible.

I knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted me to follow him.

In the past, the second Julian got angry, I would panic. I'd chase after him, apologize whether I'd done anything wrong or not, and keep trying to make things right until he finally forgave me.

Tonight? He could sulk all he wanted. I had more important things to do. Like sleep.

His footsteps lingered outside for a while before finally fading into the distance. I closed my eyes and, within minutes, fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, I woke naturally for the first time in what felt like forever. Unsurprisingly, Julian hadn't come home. Apparently, I'd really gotten under his skin last night.

I couldn't bring myself to care.

After breakfast, I took a cab to the office and handed my resignation to HR.

Once that was done, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to one of our business partners.

When those partnerships had first been negotiated, the clients had agreed on one condition. I had to personally oversee their accounts.

Now that I was leaving the company, it was only professional to let them know I wouldn't be their point of contact anymore.

Once I'd sent the message, I headed for the exit.

I had barely stepped out when I ran into Julian and Chloe.

So, that was where he'd spent the night.

The two of them were walking close together, laughing about something as they approached. Neither seemed to notice me at first.

"Jules, thank you again for helping with Daisy last night," Chloe said sweetly. "I know she can be a handful. She lost both her parents when she was little, and I just feel so awful for her.

"All she's ever wanted is to know what it's like to have a dad. That's the only reason I asked you to play along and let her call you Daddy. Claire won't mind, would she?"

Julian scoffed. "Why would she? She's a mother herself. If anyone should be able to understand what that little girl is missing, it's Claire."