Chapter 2

"Are you certain you want a divorce?"

Lauren’s voice cut through the receiver, as crisp and no-nonsense as ever.

"Certain."

"Tomorrow morning, eight sharp at my firm. Bring your ID and your marriage certificate."

She was my college roommate, now a top family law attorney. Four years sharing a dorm meant she knew who I was far better than my own mother ever did.

After hanging up, I hailed a cab home.

The keypad code hadn't changed.

The moment the door opened, the heavy scent of gardenia perfume hit my nose.

It was Kelly's signature scent.

I couldn't stand strong fragrances—two years of dialysis had heightened my senses, and heavy perfumes made me violently nauseous.

Zachary knew this.

The master bedroom door was halfway open.

The right side of the closet was entirely filled with dresses I had never seen before—florals, velvets, silks, tags still attached.

My clothes had been shoved into the far left corner: a few pilled cotton tees and a worn grey coat I’d worn for four years.

I opened the bedside drawer. The jewelry box was there, but one item was missing.

My grandmother's diamond bracelet.

She had spent a lifetime of savings to buy it. On the day she passed away, she held my hand and said, *Chloe, this is the most valuable thing I can leave you.*

I tore the room apart. It wasn't there.

I opened Kelly's Instagram. A selfie from three days ago showed her holding a latte, a glittering bracelet gleaming on her left wrist.

Caption: *A blessed day~ Grateful for everything.*

While the phone was still in my hand, a bank notification popped up.

Joint account balance: $482.

Last month, it had over seventy thousand dollars.

I pulled the transaction history. Every single withdrawal had gone to the exact same recipient:

Kelly.

Descriptions read: "Check-up fee," "Consultation fee," "Living allowance."

Amounts ranged from five hundred to ten thousand dollars.

I sat on the edge of the bed as my screen dimmed and lit up again.

The front door clicked. Zachary was back.

He walked into the bedroom, glanced at the clothes scattered across the mattress, and frowned.

"What are you digging through?"

"Where did the seventy thousand dollars go?"

"It’s a joint account. What difference does it make whose money it is? Kelly needs money for medical treatments. I told you that."

"You said you'd 'lend her some.' You didn't say you'd drain seventy thousand."

He unbuttoned his collar, taking his sweet time. "Why do you have to calculate every penny? No wonder people say you're—"

He stopped himself.

"Say I'm what?"

He didn't reply.

I already knew the rest. *Say you’re full of bitterness.* The exact words he whispered to Kelly in that hospital room.

"Where is my grandmother's bracelet?"

Zachary paused while pouring a glass of water. "Kelly tried it on when she visited last time. You were in the room. You didn't object."

I had been there.

Kelly had picked up the bracelet, her eyes wide like an innocent child's, saying, *I just want to see how it looks on me.*

Trying it on meant looking at it.

It didn't mean stealing it.

"Zachary, did you move her into the master bedroom too?"

"It isn't safe for her to live alone out there."

"Then where am I supposed to sleep?"

He gave me a look, seemingly baffled by why I was even asking.

"Isn't the guest room empty?"

A sharp spasm ripped through my stomach.

My transplant spot was gone. My money was gone. My bracelet was gone.

Even my own bed wasn't mine anymore.

I walked toward the guest room.

A bare mattress, no duvet, and an old, yellowed pillow.

Behind me, Zachary’s voice chased my heels.

"Chloe, you need an attitude adjustment. Kelly has nothing, while you have everything—a family, a degree, a husband. What’s so terrible about sharing a little? Don't be so selfish."

I turned around to look at him.

"Zachary, the only thing she hasn't taken from me yet is my heartbeat. Tell her to get in line and take that, too."

His brows knitted into a tight scowl. "Can you stop talking like that? You sound like an unhinged psycho."