Chapter 1

The crystal glasses for the baby' s naming ceremony were already set up, gleaming under the soft lights of the living room. Everything was perfect, a picture of domestic bliss carefully arranged by my mother-in-law, Mrs. Hayes.

She fluffed a decorative pillow on the sofa, her face beaming. "Everything looks wonderful, Ethan. It' s going to be a perfect day for my grandson."

"It is, Mom," Ethan agreed, though his eyes kept flicking toward the front door. "I just wish Ava would get here. It' s not like her to be late."

His mother scoffed, her smile tightening. "Honestly, it' s better this way. Let her be late. It gives us more time with Chloe and the baby without any... awkwardness." She didn't have to explain what she meant. I was the awkwardness.

"She has a point, son," my father-in-law, Mr. Hayes, added from his armchair. "Ava' s a brilliant doctor, we' ve always been proud of that, but this is a family affair. She doesn't quite fit in anymore, does she?"

My own in-laws, making it clear I was an outsider in my own home.

Ethan' s shoulders slumped. I could picture it perfectly. The way he always caved under his parents' pressure. "I know, but she' s still my wife. She' s been through a lot. The fellowship was supposed to be a good thing, a fresh start for her after the... accident."

His voice trailed off. The accident. The reason I couldn't give them the grandchild they so desperately wanted. The reason Chloe was now sitting in my favorite armchair, holding a baby that should have never existed.

"She' s just being difficult," Mrs. Hayes said, waving a dismissive hand. "She should be grateful. Chloe is giving her the one thing she can't have. It's a win-win. Once Ava gets over her little fit of jealousy, she'll see that we did this for her, too."

Ethan nodded slowly, his guilt being reshaped into a noble sacrifice. "You're right. She'll come around. I'll talk to her. Once she holds the baby, she' ll understand. We can still be a family." He wanted to fix it, but only on his terms. He wanted me to accept his betrayal and call it a gift.

What they didn't know was that I wasn't running late. I wasn't stuck in traffic, and I wasn't having a "fit of jealousy" in some hotel room.

I was in a sterile downtown office, the faint scent of paper and ink filling the air. The document in front of me was thick and heavy.

"Are you sure, Dr. Miller?" my lawyer asked, her voice gentle.

I picked up the pen, its weight feeling final in my hand. "I'm sure." My signature was clean and decisive on the divorce petition.

As I walked out of the building, I pulled out my phone, a new burner phone I' d bought that morning. I dialed a number I had memorized.

A calm voice answered on the second ring. "Doctors Without Borders, recruitment."

"Hello," I said, my voice steady. "My name is Dr. Ava Miller. I'm calling to accept the placement in South Sudan."

Back in my house, the house I had paid the down payment for, Chloe was cooing at the baby, a small bundle wrapped in blue. He was the symbol of their new beginning.

Ethan looked down at the child, his son, and a genuine smile lit up his face. It was a smile I hadn't seen directed at me in over a year. He saw a future, a perfect family he had built on a foundation of lies.

I, on the other hand, was planning my exit. I had already packed my most important belongings, my medical texts and personal documents, shipping them to a secure storage unit. The rest-the furniture, the art, the life we had built together-I was leaving behind. It was all tainted now.

My new life wouldn't be in a pristine suburban home. It would be in a tent, in a war-torn country, where my skills as a surgeon were desperately needed. That was where I would find myself again, far from the wreckage of my marriage.