The Lamberts' neighborhood was slated for demolition, and the whole family was too excited to sleep.
Gordon Lambert held my hand and said：“Babe, once the payout comes through, I'm buying you a big gold bracelet.”
I smiled and nodded, warmth spreading through my chest.
Then my best friend Jessica Moore called from the Housing and Urban Development office：“The plans changed. It's not your mother-in-law's place getting demolished. It's your family's old house back in Clearwater Village.”
I froze for a second, but I didn't think much of it. I figured I'd go home and talk it over with Gordon.
I pushed the door open. Gordon was sitting on the couch, his face dark.
“I thought I really loved you, but I've met the person I truly love. I hope you can let me go.”
May Lambert sat beside him, holding her teacup, her tone as flat as if she were commenting on the weather.
“Our family's about to get the demolition payout. We won't be in the same league anymore. Better to end things now.”
“A person should know where they stand. Forcing a marriage between people who don't belong together only makes everyone miserable. At least if you split now, you can still be friends.”
I looked at those two faces, and the words that it wasn't their house being demolished but my family's died somewhere in my throat.
May was right about one thing. Soon enough, we wouldn't be in the same league.
……
“Anna Swanson, let's get a divorce.”
Gordon lifted his head and looked at me, his tone grave and deliberate.
I thought he was joking. I walked over and pressed my hand to his forehead：“Are you running a fever? Or has the demolition news made you lose your mind?”
He let out a long sigh.
“I thought I really loved you, but I've met the person I truly love. I hope you can let me go.”
I stood there. My brain had to loop through that sentence twice before the meaning landed.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Your love is that cheap? Two days ago you were promising me a gold bracelet, and today you've found your soulmate?”
Gordon grabbed my hand, his eyes rimmed red.
“Anna, I'm sorry. I know this isn't fair to you.”
He paused, his voice cracking：“It's not that I don't love you. But I can't keep lying to myself. That girl……she's pregnant.”
I went still.
“Her name is Kathleen Summers. No parents. Grew up in a state-run foster home. She has nobody.”
Gordon let go of my hand and stepped back, wearing the expression of a man making a noble sacrifice.
“Believe me, I just fell in love with two people at the same time. But she's carrying my child now, and I can't abandon her. I have to step up and be a man. Can you understand that?”
My stomach turned so hard I thought I might be sick.
He made cheating sound like a charity speech. Anyone listening would think he was accepting an award for humanitarian of the year.
I let out a cold laugh：“Well, I'll be damned. You really opened my eyes today. What, you think you're rich now? Think you've outgrown me? And are you even sure that kid is yours?”
Gordon's face flushed scarlet：“This is exactly what I can't stand about you! You're always so aggressive! Kathleen would never say anything that ugly! I'm a man, and you have never once cared about my dignity!”
May sat beside him, legs crossed, lifting her teacup to blow on it.
“I said it from the start, marrying you was a loss for this family. A country girl with no class. Three years under our roof and you couldn't even produce a child, and you still have the nerve to question someone else.”
Her eyes were pure contempt.
“Our family's about to get the demolition payout. Seven, eight million dollars at least. We won't be in the same league after this, so let's just call it done.”
“A person should know where they stand. Forcing a marriage between people who don't belong together only drags everyone down. End it now, and you can still walk away as friends.”
I looked at those two faces.
One wore the smug generosity of someone tossing scraps from above. The other could barely contain the scheming behind his eyes.
The words that it wasn't their house being demolished but my family's clawed at my throat, and I swallowed every last one of them.
