Chapter 1

The air in the Travis County Courthouse felt stale, heavy.

My suit felt too tight.

Eleanor stood beside me, scrolling through her phone, her face a perfect mask of calm.

We were next in line for the marriage license.

A new life, I thought. Our life.

Then her phone buzzed. An email.

She tapped it open.

Her perfectly sculpted eyebrows twitched, just once.

Then her face went pale, a shade I' d never seen on her, not even when she lost that big downtown project last year.

"Mike," she said, her voice suddenly thin.

"What is it, El? You okay?"

She didn't look at me. Her eyes were glued to the screen.

"David. It's David Miller. He's having a professional crisis. A complete meltdown."

David. Her protégé. The kid she was always talking about, always helping.

"At the firm? Now?"

"Yes. He needs me. Immediately." She snapped her phone shut, her hand trembling slightly.

"But, Eleanor, our appointment..."

She finally looked at me, but her eyes were distant, like I was a stranger she' d bumped into.

"This is critical, Mike. His career could be over. I have to go."

"Can't it wait an hour? We're right here." My voice sounded weak, even to me.

"No. It can't."

She turned, her heels clicking sharply on the polished floor, and walked away.

Just like that.

She didn't look back.

I stood there, the unsigned marriage license application suddenly feeling like a lead weight in my hand.

A clerk called out, "Thompson and Vance?"

I didn't answer.

A knot formed in my stomach, cold and hard.

A professional crisis? On our marriage license day?

It didn't feel right. Nothing about it felt right.