Chapter 1

After our thirty-seventh cold war, Paddy Henson went out to buy me a gift, the way he always did to smooth things over.

I was scrolling through short videos out of boredom when, set to the soundtrack of One Step Short of Happily Ever After, a face I knew far too well came up on my screen.

It was Paddy's first love, Noreen Winfield.

In the video, an eighteen-year-old Noreen was riding on Paddy's back, throwing up a peace sign at the camera.

Paddy had his head turned toward her, so much tenderness in his eyes it nearly spilled off the screen.

The caption read: 【If I hadn't gone abroad back then, we'd surely be together now.】

My finger paused. I opened the comments.

The top comment had Paddy's avatar. His reply said:

【It's not too late now. This time I won't let go.】

That night I didn't get his apology gift, and I didn't get him coming home either.

The next morning, Paddy handed me a set of divorce papers.

"Noreen was in a car accident. Her memory's regressed to when she was eighteen."

"Right now she only remembers me. Before she recovers, I want to be there to make up for what she missed."

...

I met his serious gaze and dug my nails into my palm to keep my voice from shaking.

"When we got married, you swore you'd never let me suffer a single day."

"And now you want to use my marriage to make it up to Noreen?"

His tone was still the gentle one I knew, but the words turned me cold all the way through.

"Naomi Cooley, calm down. The doctor says Noreen needs me there to get her memory back."

"Once she's better, I'll come back and go on being your Paddy, yours alone."

Something inside my chest was carved out whole, leaving a hollow with the wind whistling through.

I lowered my head and touched my faintly rounded belly. Paddy still didn't know I was pregnant.

Last week he'd pressed his face to my stomach and said, "It'd be so nice if there were a baby in here."

I'd been laughing to myself, planning to surprise him.

But what came first was a sheet of divorce papers.

"I won't sign. Marriage isn't a game."

Paddy sighed, like he was dealing with a child who didn't understand.

"You know I have connections in the medical field. You're up for attending physician this year, aren't you?"

"Naomi, don't make this hard for me."

I could barely stay on my feet, staring in disbelief at the man I loved.

The day before, I'd still been curled up against him, cheek to cheek, sulking because he'd forgotten to buy me a cake.

Today he was trading the career I treasured most for a sheet of divorce papers.

Ten years ago, the day Noreen left for abroad, he'd drunk himself into a heap at the foot of the dorm building, crying that "the whole world doesn't want me anymore."

I was the one who stayed up all night with him, soothing him.

After that I helped him get into a top school, helped him build his company.

When Paddy proposed, he went down on one knee and swore through tears,

"Naomi, you're the one who won't leave me."

"As long as you don't let go, I'll always be here."

The vow still stood, but his heart had turned away.

Paddy rubbed the space between his brows. "Don't be so difficult about it, like I've wronged you or something."

"It's only a temporary separation. We'll remarry later."

So in his mind, my life had a pause button he could press.

And my waiting was simply to be expected.

He wanted to give his first love a perfect ending, and he wanted me to be his warm way back.

Maybe from the very beginning, all he loved was the stability I could give him.

I made up my mind, picked up the pen, and signed the divorce papers.

The motion was so smooth it left Paddy stunned, as if he hadn't expected me to give in so fast.

"You're not going to take it out on Noreen, are you? She's fragile. She can't handle any kind of shock."

I capped the pen and pushed the papers back to him. "Relax. I have no interest at all in you or her."

"If I stayed in this marriage with you, my life would just be a silent collapse."

Paddy realized I was mocking him and was about to say something.

Then his phone rang, and Noreen's delicate voice came through.

"Paddy, I woke up and you weren't beside me. I was so scared..."

He took the papers and hurried off, tossing a line at me on his way out,

"We're getting the divorce finalized tomorrow. Don't even think about running from it."

I sat alone in the empty living room and dialed the hospital's OB-GYN department.

"Hello, I'd like to schedule an abortion."