Chapter 2

Noticing where I was looking, Chloe calmly locked her phone screen. She turned the watch over in her hands.

"You're right, it's not yours. You couldn't afford a fifty-thousand-dollar Rolex even if you drew illustrations for ten years," she said.

Her voice was calm, but the insult cut deep. She put the watch into her bag. "Julian came over yesterday. He must have left it here by accident. I'll return it to him tomorrow."

I stood there, watching her quietly.

The watch had been clipped to Buster's collar. That was no accident.

We are all adults. I wasn't blind to the lust and possessiveness in Julian’s eyes whenever he looked at Chloe.

Leaving his expensive watch on my dog was a blatant power move.

He was marking his territory. He was telling me that he had been in my house, played with my dog, and left a piece of his wealthy life behind to mock me.

I couldn't gaslight myself anymore.

Seeing me stand still, Chloe finally seemed to remember my mention of divorce. She sighed with annoyance.

"Look, Julian and I were discussing a deal at the coffee shop down the street yesterday. It started pouring rain, and his clothes got soaked.

I brought him here to change into one of your dry shirts. That's probably how he dropped the watch."

She finished her explanation and glared at me, her patience running thin.

I looked down at the floor and repeated, "Let's get a divorce."