Chapter 3

The second we got back in the car, Amy slammed her fist against the steering wheel.

"Shit!"

Her eyes were red.

Her voice trembled.

"He has a kid with her!"

I leaned back against the seat.

My fingers were freezing, and inside I felt numb.

Amy turned to me, shaking with rage.

"Why the hell did you stop me?"

"A guy like that deserves to have his face ripped off right there on the spot!"

I was quiet for a long moment.

Then I said softly, "I know how much childbirth hurts."

The car fell silent.

A few seconds later, Amy slowly turned her head.

"What do you mean?"

I stared through the windshield at the gray sky.

"Three years ago, I was pregnant, too."

"I started hemorrhaging at seven months."

"The baby didn't make it."

Amy froze.

"Where was Jack?"

"Three winters ago."

"With you."

She sank back into her seat and closed her eyes.

After a long silence, she muttered, "That fucking bastard."

She pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse.

She took one out, glanced at me, then slid it back in.

"Claire."

Her voice softened.

"How has he treated you all these years?"

"Before Jack started his company, he didn't have much."

"My family didn't want me to marry him, but I did anyway."

"Later on, my parents came around and gave me money from a trust so we could get on our feet."

"Jack said he wanted to start a business, so I handed the money over to him."

"Once the company took off, he told me it'd be simpler for taxes and legal protection if everything stayed under the company's name or his."

"He said I wouldn't understand any of it."

"That he didn't want me stressing about it."

Amy let out a bitter laugh.

"And you bought that?"

"I did."

Because back then, I really loved him.

I'd loved him enough to believe marriage meant carrying every burden together.

I'd loved him enough to believe all his promises would come true in time.

But seven years had gone by.

I was still living in the same rundown apartment.

The furniture was old.

Mold crept along the corners.

The heat worked whenever it felt like it.

Amy was quiet for a moment.

Then she opened her photo gallery and handed me her phone.

"He bought me all of this."

She swiped through photo after photo.

Designer handbags.

Jewelry.

A penthouse.

My eyes stung as I looked at them.

Jack had never bought me a single gift.

He always said people who were genuinely close didn't need flashy things just for show.

Now I got it.

It wasn't that he didn't want to spend money.

He just didn't want to spend it on me.

Amy took her phone back.

"If any of this counts as marital property, I'll cooperate."

"If it belongs to you, I'm not going to fight you for it."

I watched the traffic light ahead turn red.

"None of this is your fault," I said quietly.

Eventually, she pulled up outside my old apartment building.

I opened the door and saw the living room lights on.

Jack was sitting on the couch.

The moment he saw me, he stood up with that warm, familiar smile I'd loved for years.

"Happy Valentine's Day, babe."