Chapter 2

My phone buzzed a few minutes later, as I numbly walked out of the courthouse into the Austin sun.

A text from Eleanor.

"Mike, I'm so sorry. It's complicated. David... he's devastated. We had too much wine at the firm's awards gala last month. It was a mistake. He's young, his whole career ahead of him. I can't ruin that."

My blood ran cold. Too much wine?

The text continued.

"He got a DNA test. It's his. He just told me. I didn't know how to tell you. He's agreed to take that overseas fellowship. He'll be gone. We can raise the child as ours, Mike. No one ever has to know."

Raise the child as ours.

Her child with David Miller.

Betrayal. It hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs.

My hand shook as I stared at the words.

She wasn't just leaving me at the courthouse. She was offering me a life built on a lie, her affair baby.

Rage, hot and sharp, surged through me.

I scrolled through my contacts, my finger stopping on a name I hadn't called in months, but thought about often.

Sarah Chen.

I knew she was at Austin-Bergstrom, about to fly to New Orleans for some big food festival. Her food truck, "Sarah's Savories," was a local legend.

She answered on the third ring, her voice warm and familiar.

"Mike? Hey! What's up?"

"Sarah," I blurted out, the words tumbling over each other. "Marry me."

Silence.

Then, "Mike? Are you serious? What's going on?"

"Eleanor... it's over. She... it doesn't matter. I'm serious, Sarah. Marry me. Today."

I could hear the airport announcements in the background.

More silence. I thought she' d hang up, tell me I was crazy.

"You really mean it, Mike?" Her voice was soft, hesitant.

"More than anything." And in that moment, I did.

"Okay," she said, a sudden decisiveness in her tone. "Okay, Mike. Yes."

I could hear her talking to someone, "Cancel it. Yes, I'm sure."

"Where are you?" she asked me.

"Downtown. Near the courthouse, actually." The irony wasn't lost on me.

"There's a little chapel off 7th Street, right? The 'Always & Forever'?" she said. "Meet me there in thirty minutes."

"I'll be there."

I hung up, my heart pounding.

Sarah. She' d had a crush on me back at UT. I' d always liked her, her easy laugh, her no-nonsense attitude. But I was with Eleanor, even then.

Thirty minutes later, Sarah walked into the tiny, slightly dusty chapel. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, her carry-on bag slung over her shoulder.

She looked at me, a question in her eyes.

I just nodded.

The ceremony was quick, the officiant a kindly old man who probably thought we were two crazy kids.

Maybe we were.

When he said, "You may kiss the bride," Sarah looked up at me, a small, shy smile on her face.

I leaned down and kissed her. It was soft, hesitant, but real.

We walked out into the Austin afternoon, married.

I felt a strange mix of shock, defiance, and a tiny, unexpected flicker of hope.

Sarah squeezed my hand. "So, Mr. Thompson," she said, a teasing glint in her eye. "What now?"

"Now," I said, taking a deep breath. "I go pack my things."