Chapter 4

Chloe watched from the floor, a triumphant gleam in her tear-filled eyes. She had won.

Ryan stood over Ava, his chest heaving with anger. He expected her to cry, to beg for forgiveness, to plead with him not to leave her. He had seen her do it before, whenever he threatened to end things.

But this time was different.

Ava slowly got to her feet, her face pale but her eyes clear and calm. She looked at his furious face, at Chloe' s feigned distress, and a strange sense of peace settled over her.

"Okay," she said, her voice steady. "Let' s get a divorce."

The single word hung in the air, electric and unexpected.

Ryan stared at her, his anger faltering, replaced by sheer disbelief. "What did you say?"

"I said, okay. I agree to the divorce."

Chloe' s crocodile tears stopped. She looked from Ava to Ryan, confused. This was not how the scene was supposed to play out. She picked up the broken necklace from the floor. "Look what she did to your gift, Ryan. She' s ungrateful."

Ryan' s mind was still reeling from Ava' s response. He had always held the power, the threat of leaving. Now, she had taken that power away from him with a single word. He felt a flicker of panic, but his pride pushed it down.

"Fine," he said, his voice hard. "I' ll have the papers drawn up tomorrow. You' ll be out of my life for good." He still believed she was bluffing, that this was some new, desperate tactic to get his attention.

He helped Chloe to her feet and they left the house, heading for the emergency room to get her "injured" ankle checked.

Ava watched them go. Then, she walked over to her own hand, which was trembling slightly. She twisted the wedding ring off her finger. It was a simple, elegant platinum band he had picked out.

She remembered now that the diamond in her engagement ring, the one he had made such a show of giving her, wasn't a family heirloom as he' d claimed. She' d overheard his mother talking once. Ryan had bought it on sale from a second-rate jeweler. He had lied about it to make himself seem more impressive, more romantic.

All of it was a lie. Her entire marriage was built on a foundation of deceit and self-deception. She had ignored so many red flags, blinded by the hope of a love that never existed.

He had promised her a lifetime of honesty and partnership. She thought of the vows they' d exchanged, his voice ringing with sincerity. Just another performance.

She walked into the small home office, found a pen, and pulled a piece of paper from the printer. She wrote down the date, her name, his name. She wrote that she agreed to an immediate and unconditional divorce. She signed it at the bottom, her signature firm and clear.

She folded the paper and placed it squarely in the center of the kitchen island, where he couldn't miss it.

Later that evening, Ava returned to the guest room. The house was quiet. She saw the calendar on the wall, a circle around tomorrow's date. "Mom's 60th Birthday Dinner."

Her heart ached. Ryan had always been dismissive of her family, often finding last-minute "work emergencies" to get out of gatherings. He hadn' t attended her mother' s birthday for the last two years.

For a fleeting moment, she wished he would be there tomorrow. Not for her, but for her mother, who still tried so hard to like him. It was a foolish, lingering habit of hope.

Just then, the front door opened. Ryan was back, alone. He looked tired and stressed. He saw her and stopped, the air between them thick with unspoken words.