A Second Chance, A True Love's Kiss

The Montauk Highway rain slammed against our windshield, just like my stomach cramped with familiar, sharp pain.

Marcus drove, his knuckles white, until his phone flashed 'Izzy.'

My husband, always her loyal puppy, was gone in a flash.

"Ellie, call an Uber. Izzy needs me," he' d declared, abandoning me sick and alone on that dark road.

It was the ninth time Marcus chose his ex-girlfriend over me, his wife.

The 'ninth goodbye' in a cruel bet Izzy orchestrated years ago: "Nine times, Ellie. Nine. Then you walk away."