Chapter 4

I looked at the blank check in his hand, then up at his arrogant face. A cold fury, something I hadn' t felt in years, rose in me.

Without a word, I took the check from his fingers. He smiled, a triumphant, smug look spreading across his face. He thought he had won.

Then, I tore it in half. And then in half again. The pieces of paper fluttered from my fingers and landed on the polished marble floor between us.

The silence that followed was heavy.

"I am not for sale, David," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "And we are done. There is no 'coming back home.' My home is not with you."

David' s face went slack with shock, the color draining from it. He stared at the pieces of the check on the floor as if he couldn' t comprehend what had just happened. No one had ever refused his money.

Jessica, however, recovered quickly. "How dare you!" she shrieked, her voice high and shrill. "Playing hard to get? You think turning down his money makes you look noble? It just makes you look stupid! You' ll regret this when you' re old and alone."

I almost laughed at the irony. Alone? I had never felt less alone in my life.

"The two of you," I said, shaking my head slowly, "You still don' t get it."

Just then, my phone buzzed in my clutch. I pulled it out. Dangling from the case was a small, crudely made charm of a yellow sun, fashioned from clay and painted by a small hand.

David' s eyes zeroed in on it. "What is that piece of junk?" he scoffed. "Still clinging to cheap sentiment? Let me guess, a memento from our 'good old days' ?"

He thought it was something from our past, a pathetic reminder of a life I couldn' t let go of.

I ignored him and answered the phone.

"Hi, sweetie."

Leo' s excited voice came through the speaker. "Mommy! Dad said the speech is almost over! He saved you the biggest strawberry tart! It has a whole strawberry on top! Are you coming soon?"

The word 'Dad' echoed in the small space between me, David, and Jessica. It was a confirmation of what Leo had said earlier, and it hit David like a physical blow.

"I' ll be right there, honey," I said, my voice warm. "Don' t eat it all without me."

I hung up and slipped the phone back into my bag. I turned to leave.

"Stop."

David' s voice was a low growl. He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. His face was a mask of fury.

"Who is he?" he demanded. "Who is the man my son calls 'Dad' ?"

"Let go of me, David," I said, trying to pull my arm away.

"Not until you tell me!"

Jessica chose that moment to add her venom. "I know what this is," she hissed, her eyes gleaming with spite. "She probably found some rich old man. She' s nothing but a gold digger, David. She left you for money. That' s the only possible explanation."

Her accusation hung in the air, ugly and loud. And for the first time in a very long time, I saw a flicker of doubt in David' s eyes. Not about me. About her.