Chapter 2

Rod froze for a second, like it hadn't occurred to him I'd agree so easily.

We'd gone from school uniforms to a wedding dress together.

At our poorest, we couldn't even afford a basement room.

We spent nights wrapped in one old down jacket, crammed together under a bridge.

Through days that hard, I never once talked about leaving.

He'd probably assumed I would cry, make a scene, beg him to come back.

His expression softened, and a thread of apology crept into his voice.

"You can't put all of this on me and Jade."

"I'm a normal man. You brought a young, pretty woman into the house and made me take care of her."

"Something happening between us, isn't that only natural? You should have seen this coming back then."

Every ounce of strength had drained out of me. From head to toe, there was nowhere that didn't hurt.

"I owe you an apology."

"But Jade thinks of you as her best friend. Don't hold this against her because of what happened."

"She's frail, and she takes things to heart. She can't handle being upset."

"From now on, just treat her the way you always have."

I lifted my eyes and caught sight of myself in the mirror.

My eyes were webbed with red, dark shadows pooled beneath them.

For three months, chasing down the best prosthetic, I'd run all over the country and barely slept a full night.

Once, he would have ached over that. Now his eyes held only her.

"When did it start?"

"On our anniversary. You said something important came up and you had to leave on a business trip."

"I was miserable, so I had a couple too many. I mistook her for you."

Watching his eyes slide away, I couldn't help the bitter laugh rising in me.

Rod prided himself on being able to drink anyone under the table.

In business, he'd outlasted more seasoned old hands than I could count.

Except for the day we got our marriage certificate, I had never once seen him drunk.

"Rod, do you even believe what you're saying?"

Caught out, he flushed and turned nasty.

"Fine, I did it on purpose. So what?"

"Glenda, you're too domineering. You handle everything yourself. You never need me for anything."

"Even in bed, you're stiff as a plank, the same position every time, boring me half to death."

"Jade's different. She knows how to be sweet, how to lean on me."

"With her, I actually feel like a man."

It felt like my heart was being wrung to pieces.

Back then he'd fallen for me at first sight, said the way I stood on my own two feet, self-made and shining, was too captivating for words.

Now every one of those qualities he'd once cradled in his palms.

Had turned, in his mouth, into unforgivable sins.

I didn't want to fight anymore. I turned to go.

Rod called after me.

"Jade's been sleeping in the master bedroom lately. Switching rooms out of nowhere, she'd probably lie awake all night."

"Glenda, from now on you take the guest room."

I thought I'd misheard.

"What did you say? This is my house."

I'd paid the down payment. I'd overseen three months of renovations.

And now he was telling me to go sleep in the guest room?

Rod frowned, his face full of displeasure.

"She's in no state to be put through this right now."

"You're healthy. What's the harm in making do for a few days?"

I lifted my head and looked around.

The magnolias I loved on the balcony had been swapped for showy peonies.

The clean leather sofa was gone, replaced at some point with a country-style fabric one.

Even the wedding photo of Rod and me on the wall had vanished.

The home I'd arranged with my own hands had become unrecognizable without my noticing.

Jade pulled out a bank card and held it out to me.

"Glennie, I'll give you all my money. Just let me have Rod, okay?"

"Aren't we best friends? Didn't you always say whatever you had, if I wanted it, it was mine?"

I stared hard at the bank card in her hand.