Chapter One

Bella stood outside the front door, her hand shaking as she reached for the handle.Laughter came from inside. Natalie’s bright laugh was followed by the warm, familiar sound of her husband’s chuckle. The sound felt like a sharp knife, cutting straight through her.She glanced down at the manila folder in her other hand. The hospital’s logo stood out like a truth she was not ready to face. With a shaky breath, she pushed it deep into her bag, burying it beneath the ordinary things inside, her wallet and keys.She opened the door.The scene in the living room hit her like a physical blow. Jason was on the couch, his arm draped along the back, his body angled towards her. Natalie. His first love, returned like a ghost from a past. Their heads were close together, admiring something on her phone. Natalie’s cloying perfume invaded Bella’s space, and as she watched, Natalie’s hand landed on Jason’s knee with a casual intimacy that screamed of history.They didn’t even see her.Bella’s eye

Chapter Two

The word hit her like a slap across the face. She thought about every single time he had said I love you against her hair in the dark before they fell asleep, and how completely and utterly she had believed him.All of it had just been part of a contract."You knew about Natalie from the start," he continued, his voice rising now and filling the room. "I told you everything about her, how much she meant to me and how much I cherished her, and now she is finally back. You want me to push her away because of you? Because of something that was going to end anyway?"Bella was quiet for a long moment, and then she lifted her chin and looked at him steadily. "I don't care about Natalie," she said, and her voice came out calmer and steadier than she felt, which surprised even her.Jason blinked. He had clearly been expecting tears, or pleading, or both, and the absence of either seemed to catch him off guard.Before he could respond, his phone beeped and he pulled it out, the moment he read

Chapter Three

Bella sat alone in the kitchen, staring at the cup of tea in front of her that had long gone cold, listening to Jason and Natalie laugh together in the dining room. Their voices drifted toward her through the doorway, intimate and warm and completely unbothered by her existence, and she wrapped both hands around the cold cup just to have something to hold onto.One more day. Just one more day and she would be free.Tomorrow the contract would officially expire and she could walk out of this house and never look back, and all she had to do was survive today without falling apart. Her hand moved unconsciously to her stomach as she thought about it, pressing gently against the secret that only she knew, the only good thing that had come from any of this."Bella!"Jason's voice cut through her thoughts and she closed her eyes for a moment, steadying herself. "Yes?""Bring some wine."Of course. She took a slow breath, opened the freezer, and pulled out the chilled bottle of white wine.

Chapter Four

There was anger on Jason's face when he looked at her across the desk, and beneath the anger was something that looked almost like disbelief, because she had come in here dressed beautifully this morning with her chin lifted and her eyes clear and he had clearly not expected that. He had not expected her to bring up the divorce so easily, and the fact that she had rattled something loose in him that he was doing his best to hide.He stared at the papers and then threw them onto the desk with more force than necessary, and the sharp crack of them hitting the wood made Bella flinch just slightly before she smoothed her expression back into something neutral. "Where do you plan on going after this?” His voice was cold.Bella said nothing. She clicked the pen open and signed the first page."Bella." His voice sharpened. "I asked you a question."She signed the second page. Then the third.When she finished, she pushed the papers across the desk and raised her eyes to meet his.Jason rec

Chapter Five

Jason stared at the documents on his desk without reading a single word on them.He was angry at himself. He had offered to help her and she had declined, walking out of his life as cleanly as if their three years together had meant nothing at all, and he could not understand why that bothered him as much as it did.He reached for his coffee and took a sip and immediately set the cup down.Something was wrong with it.He pressed the intercom. "Daniel."His assistant appeared at the door within seconds. "Sir?""What is this?" Jason pushed the cup forward. "This isn't my coffee."Daniel looked uncomfortable. "Sir, it is the same coffee as always.""It doesn't taste the same. Take it away and bring me what I actually drink."Daniel hesitated, and Jason looked up sharply at the silence."Sir," he said carefully, "the coffee has always been prepared by Mrs. Morrison. She bought the beans herself and left them with me each week with instructions on how to prepare it." He paused. "She didn'

Chapter 6

Bella’s POV“Transfer or cash?” The landlord’s voice was impatient, like he had better places to be that’ll give him even more money than the one I was offering him. Well… I couldn’t care less. As long as I was getting a roof over my head, I was perfectly fine. I adjusted the strap of my small bag on my shoulder, standing in the narrow corridor of my new apartment building. The paint on the walls peeled slightly near the ceiling, and someone’s TV was too loud two doors down. The place was going to need a few touch ups of course, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle. “Transfer,” I said quietly. The man didn’t even look up from his phone. “Alright then, pay up so I can leave. I’ve got some place else to be.” He said, confirming my thoughts. I nodded once, even though I knew he wasn’t looking up at me. I then pulled out my phone. My fingers hovered for half a second before I tapped the confirm button. I’d been preparing for this day for a while now, and thank the lord I’d be