Chapter 2

Fine.

I swallowed my resentment.

As the baby grew and expenses piled up, he started scrutinizing every dime.

If the formula was slightly premium, he called me wasteful. If I bought our son a couple of new onesies, he claimed the hand-me-downs were good enough.

I hadn't bought a single piece of new clothing for myself in years. When my skincare ran out, I settled for whatever cheap baby lotion was on sale at the drugstore.

Until last week at the grocery store, when I grabbed that twenty-dollar box of pads.

He frowned at the price tag, plucked it out of the cart, put it back on the shelf, and grabbed a five-dollar generic pack.

That was the exact moment I knew our marriage was dead.

My son began fussing, rubbing his sleepy eyes against my chest. I gently patted his back, watching the sky outside slowly fade into dusk.

My phone lit up again.

Not a call, but a text.

"Where are you?"

I didn't reply.

A few minutes later, another text arrived.

"Sadie, what is wrong with you? Can't we just talk like normal people?"

I turned the phone face down on the sofa.

There was nothing left to talk about.

It wasn't like I hadn't given him chances.

I had held my tongue time after time, hoping he would change, telling myself our son was too young, convincing myself that this family was worth holding together.

But that twelve-thousand-dollar transfer had shattered my delusion.

It wasn't that he didn't know how to treat someone well. He just didn't care to treat *me* well.

A coworker he barely knew could get twelve grand from him without batting an eye.

While I didn't even deserve a twenty-dollar box of pads.

What was I to him?

An unpaid maid, a live-in nanny, an appliance that didn't require any maintenance to keep running.

I carried my son to the nursery crib and tucked him in with a light blanket.

Then I sat by the edge of the mattress and pulled up my banking app.

Over a hundred and thirty thousand dollars, completely untouched.

In the face of a failing marriage, this money was my armor.

I didn't have to beg for anyone's mercy ever again.

My phone buzzed again.

This time, a long paragraph popped up.

"Sadie, I was literally just doing a coworker a favor. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill."

"She's fresh out of college, struggling all by herself in this city. I just gave her a helping hand."

"Return those packages, bring our son home, and let's go back to living our lives. Do you really have to blow everything up like this?"

I typed two words and hit send.

"We're divorcing."

Around two in the afternoon, after feeding my son, I changed into fresh clothes to take him downstairs for lunch.

There was a shopping plaza right beneath my condo with a few decent restaurants.

The moment I pushed the stroller out of the elevator into the lobby, I saw two figures standing by the entrance.

It was him, accompanied by a young woman.

The coworker.

Catching sight of me, he marched over with a grim look on his face.

The girl hurried behind him, watching me with nervous, timid eyes.

She stepped forward, clutching an envelope stuffed with cash, and tried to shove it directly into my hands.

"Sadie, I'm so sorry! I really, truly am. I had no idea this would cause a misunderstanding between you two. I was desperate for rent money, and Sean was just being kind."

"I withdrew the whole amount in cash to give it back. Please don't fight with Sean over this. It's all my fault."

I glanced down at the envelope. Crisp hundred-dollar bills, freshly bundled with bank bands.

Twelve thousand dollars, down to the cent.

Sean stood beside her with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, his posture finally relaxing into smug confidence.

"See? The money's paid back."

"It was nothing to begin with, and you threw a tantrum. Alright, let's head home."

He pulled his hands from his pockets and reached out to grab my arm.

I took a step back.

Then I calmly slid the envelope of cash straight into my purse.

"I'll take the money."