"Relax. I don't have the bandwidth to obsess over this stuff. I'd rather spend my time reviewing investment portfolios."
His expression froze, then darkened.
"Money. That's all you ever think about. Do I even exist in your world? Am I even your husband?"
"Fine. Let's see how well you hold this family together on your own!"
He shoved the door open and stormed out.
Letitia trailed after him, her voice dripping with smug sympathy.
"You know, Caroline, being a wife means learning to soften up a little. If you keep this up, Corey's going to be really hurt."
She paused at the threshold. "And honestly, how can you put a price tag on someone's dream? You still don't understand him at all."
I didn't respond. I got up and gave Noah his medicine.
After they left, Noah looked crestfallen too.
"Daddy's leaving already? He hasn't been home in so long. I miss him."
I let out a heavy sigh and pulled him close.
"It's okay, sweetheart. Mommy will always be right here with you."
Corey didn't show up again, not even once, all the way through Noah's discharge. Like he was punishing me with his absence.
I went back to work and scheduled a meeting with a client.
The meeting spot happened to be a café near the mall. After we wrapped up, the client pointed through the glass window with an amused grin.
"Kids these days. So much energy."
I followed his gaze toward the mall's outdoor stage and froze for a second.
It was Corey's band.
What were the odds.
The last pounding notes faded, and as the crowd broke into applause, Letitia rose on her tiptoes, threw herself into Corey's arms, and kissed him hard.
The audience went still for a beat, then erupted into louder cheers.
Something flickered inside me, faint as a breeze across still water. Then it was gone.
I wrapped up the conversation and headed out. The band was coming offstage at the same time, and Corey and I walked straight into each other.
He spotted me, and his expression shifted into something almost defiant.
"It's just a gig, and you show up to spy on me? Caroline, can you give me some space for once?"
Space. The word hit a nerve. In my past life, he'd begged me on his knees to set him free. The memory left a bitter taste.
"I was here meeting a client. Trust me, nobody wants to watch you make out with your drummer."
He went rigid, eyes wide.
"What... what did you just say?"
I looked straight at him, then at Letitia beside him, barely concealing her satisfaction. Every word landed clean and deliberate.
"I said I have zero interest in watching you date someone else."
Corey's chest heaved. The color drained from his face, then flooded back.
Something snapped in him, and he doubled down, righteous as ever.
"Yeah. Letitia gets me. She knows what I need."
"But you, Caroline? All you've ever done is nickel-and-dime everything down to the last dollar. Do you understand what our band stands for? Do you have any idea what I'm chasing? No. You don't know the first thing about it."
His eyes were full of disappointment.
"Let's get a divorce."
My heart lurched.
Damn it. He beat me to it.
I didn't hesitate. I nodded.
"Fine."
The speed of my answer caught him off guard. He stared at me, visibly stunned.
"Noah stays with me. I'll have a lawyer split everything fifty-fifty. You won't get shortchanged."
I pulled out my phone and texted the divorce attorney I knew on the spot.
His eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Even now, it's still about money? Caroline, do you even have a heart? Did our marriage mean nothing to you? Almost ten years, and this is what I get?"
Ten years didn't even begin to cover it.
Counting my past life, my marriage to Corey Vance had spanned close to seventy or eighty years.
And in all those decades, I was never as happy as the world assumed.
After he quit the music scene, he used his "bad moods" as an excuse and never shared a bed with me again.
