Chapter 6

Alex stood frozen in the doorway of their bedroom. The tulips he brought slipped from his fingers and scattered across the hardwood floor in a soft, sad whisper.

There on the bed sat her wedding ring. Beside it, a neatly stacked pile of papers–divorce documents.

At first, it didn’t register. His eyes darted between the ring and the signature on the final page: Lindsey’s name. Firm. Final.

He blinked, as if trying to wake himself up from some sick dream. “Lindsey?” he called again, his voice louder, more frantic this time. “Linds, where are you?”

No answer.

He rushed out of the room, checking every space in the house as if she might’ve been hiding somewhere. The kitchen. The guest room. The patio. Even the closet. But everything was still. Lifeless.

Gone. He grabbed his phone and called her. One ring. Two. Voicemail. He tried again. And again. Still nothing.

Then came the texts.

Where are you?

Can we talk?

Come home.

This isn’t how we fix things.

He stared at the last message and, for a moment, he thought she might respond.

But no reply ever came.

Frustration bubbled up in his chest. He let out a growl and threw the phone across the room. It hit the wall with a sharp crack and shattered on the floor.

“She wouldn’t do this,” he muttered under his breath, pacing, raking his hands through his hair. “She doesn’t have the right. I’m the one who makes the decisions. I’m the one who’s always in control.”

His mind spiraled–grasping, clawing for some kind of justification.

This isn’t real. It can’t be.

He began replaying old memories, almost involuntarily. The late-night arguments that ended in silence. The way she used to sit at the edge of the bed, eyes red from holding back tears. Her voice trembling when she said things like, “I don’t feel seen anymore,” or “I’m just someone you tolerate now.”

He’d always brushed it off.

“Don’t be dramatic, Lindsey.”

“You’re reading too much into things.”

“You know I love you. I just get busy.”

And every single time, she stayed. She forgave him, even when he barely deserved it. So he convinced himself this was just another one of those moments. A storm she needed to ride out.

“She’ll come back,” he muttered aloud. “She always comes back.”

Feeling the need to reaffirm his story–to soothe his ego–he grabbed his keys and left the house, driving straight to Sasha’s penthouse.

When she opened the door, her brows furrowed at the sight of him.

“Alex?” she asked, stepping aside. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said with a crooked smile, stepping inside. “In fact… it’s time to celebrate.”

She gave him a confused look. “Celebrate what?”

He reached for her waist and pulled her close, kissing her before whispering, “She left. Lindsey signed the divorce papers.”

Sasha blinked. “Wait… are you serious? She’s gone?”

He nodded. “The house was empty. She left the ring. Everything.”

Her expression quickly shifted into a grin. “Then we did it. We can finally be together, just like we always said.”

Alex let her smile. Let her wrap her arms around him. But deep down, a flicker of doubt gnawed at him.

“She’ll come back,” he said suddenly, his voice more to himself than to her.

Sasha pulled back. “What do you mean?”

“She’s done this before,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “She gets upset. Leaves. Needs space. But she always comes back.”

Sasha’s smile faded. “Alex, she filed for divorce. That’s not the same.”

“She’s dramatic. Emotional. She probably just wants to make a point,” he said. “She’ll crawl back like she always does. And when she does… I’ll make sure she regrets it.”

Sasha’s tone hardened. “But what about me? Wasn’t this the point? You and me, finally free? We can get married now.”

He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, yeah. Of course. We’ll get to that.”

“But you don’t sound sure.”

“I am sure,” he snapped. “I just need to wait this out. For now.”

Sasha didn’t push further. She was too happy, too caught up in the fact that Lindsey was gone. She picked up her phone and called Paula, her voice excited as she all but shouted into the receiver.

“She’s out of the picture,” Sasha said with a grin. “We did it. We won. That bitch is finally gone.” But the next morning, Alex woke up early. That same doubt clawed at his insides again.

He got dressed quickly and left Sasha’s penthouse without saying goodbye. His hands gripped the steering wheel harder than necessary the entire drive back home.

As he pulled into the driveway, he stared at the front door.

Something in him hoped–needed–to believe that she’d be there. Maybe she had come back. Maybe last night had just been a moment of madness, and she’d be waiting inside to yell at him,

Chapter 6

cry, throw something, something.

But the house was quiet.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Silence greeted him. Cold. Hollow. Absolute.

“Lindsey?” he called out, almost timidly now.

No answer.

He wandered through the rooms, slower this time. More careful. Almost afraid.

Nothing had changed.

The ring still lay where he left it. The divorce papers still on the bed.

And this time, he didn’t try to convince himself.

This time, for a flicker of a second…

He wondered if she had really meant it.