Chapter 6

Her texts kept coming, a relentless barrage of poison.

'He' s taking me to dinner at your favorite place tonight. To celebrate.'

'He says he' s never been happier. We talked about baby names.'

'He' s finally realized what a cold, boring bitch you are. It' s over, Eliana. Just give up.'

I didn' t reply. I just stared at the screen, the words blurring into a meaningless jumble. The pain was gone, replaced by a vast, cold emptiness.

I drove straight to my lawyer' s office.

Laura was a shark in a designer suit. She' d handled my prenuptial agreement years ago.

"I want to file for divorce," I said, sitting in the plush leather chair opposite her desk.

She didn' t look surprised. "Infidelity?"

"And then some," I said. I told her everything. The assistant. The pregnancy. The lies.

"And I want nothing," I said. "Not a single penny."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Eliana, the prenup is ironclad, but you' re still entitled to a significant settlement. We' re talking hundreds of millions."

"I don' t want his money," I said. "I want to be free. I want to disappear."

I told her my plan. The name change. The new life.

She listened, her expression unreadable. When I was finished, she leaned back in her chair. "It' s bold. It' s clean. But he will fight it."

"I know," I said. "That' s why I need the divorce papers ready to go. But don' t file them yet."

She nodded, understanding. "A parting gift."

"Exactly."

I left her office with a thick manila envelope in my bag. The divorce petition. Signed, sealed, and ready.

Dustin called me that evening.

"Hey, babe. Where are you?"

"Out with friends," I lied.

"Oh. Okay." He sounded disappointed. "I was going to come home, but Jami' s mom took a turn for the worse. I think I should stay here, at the hospital."

The hospital. Right.

"You do what you have to do," I said, my voice flat.

"I' ll make it up to you, I promise," he said. "I love you."

"I know," I said, and hung up.

The lies didn' t even hurt anymore. They were just... noise.

I called him back a few minutes later.

"Eli? Is everything okay?"

"I was just thinking," I said. "If you ever did cheat on me, I' d leave. I' d just... walk away and never look back."

He laughed. A short, arrogant bark. "Don' t be ridiculous. You' d never leave me. You couldn' t. Where would you even go?"

My new passport, tucked safely in my purse, felt warm against my fingers. Hope Tillman. She could go anywhere.

"I' m more resourceful than you think," I said.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked, his voice laced with amusement.

"Maybe," I said.

"Alright, I' ll play," he said. "You try to leave me. Let' s see how far you get."

I smiled. A real smile, for the first time in days. "Game on, Dustin."