4: 4
"Just because I bought the wrong thing?"
I couldn't be bothered to invent a reason. I stood up. "It can be."
"If we divorce, where do you think you'll go?" Seeing me heading for the bedroom, she panicked, the words tumbling out. "Who would want a man in his forties with nothing to his name?"
My steps stopped.
The air went quiet.
"That's not what I meant..." Her voice was flustered. "I just can't accept that you want a divorce."
Janet's eyes darted to the fruit knife on the table. She snatched it up and pressed it to her wrist.
"You know how hard it was for me to remarry you. You can't go back on your word."
I looked at her red-rimmed eyes and wanted to tell her that I wasn't the one who'd broken any promises.
Then I decided there was no point.
In the silence, the blade cut into her skin, and dark red blood seeped out.
The same old trick. Once, it might have softened me all over again.
Now I felt only numb.
If a mutual agreement to divorce wasn't going to work, then there was only the courts.
I drew in a deep breath and forced out an easy smile.
"I was joking. I just felt off after seeing you with another man at the hospital today."
"I already told you he's a client." She let out a breath and dropped the knife. "What's gotten into you lately? You're always overthinking."
"Maybe being home with the baby has been getting to me," I said, my voice low, and turned into the guest room.
"Let me and Lewis sleep in here for a while. I want to clear my head."
I didn't push it, and Janet didn't say anything more.
Over the next few days, by unspoken agreement, neither of us brought it up again. We just each stayed busy.
She was busy getting ready for her business trip. I was busy getting ready to leave.
Before her trip, she put a key into my hand.
"Wait for me to get back. There's something I want to tell you."
It was the key to the head of the Sullivan family, passed down for generations. I'd seen it once at a family dinner.
I'd never known her to take it out before, and I had no idea why she was suddenly giving it to me.
But I didn't care anymore.
The notifications on my phone kept coming. Timothy was posting constantly.
The latest one was a sunset photo by the Seine.
In the corner of the frame sat a half-finished cup of coffee, and the rim caught the blurred hem of a long dress.
That white couture dress was the birthday gift I'd given Janet last year.
Timothy's caption read:
【Dusk in Paris lasts a long time, long enough for two people to walk slowly. This trip with you, coming along on your business, I never want it to end.】
Scrolling back, there was plenty more.
One day a selfie in front of the Louvre holding crepes, the next a peace sign under the Eiffel Tower at night.
Now and then, in the photo grids, there he was, tying her shoelaces or holding an umbrella over her.
I screenshotted them one by one and saved them all.
Timothy was living a happy life these days.
No one would ever guess he'd once been a baby abandoned at the head of a bridge.
My parents took him in, and right up until they died they never once mentioned it to him.
I wondered how he'd react when he found out where he really came from.
The day I left for Seattle.
I set a thick file on the coffee table, along with a signed divorce agreement.
Beside them, weighing them down, were the family headship key and our wedding rings.
The note read:
【I'll be assigned out of state for three years or more. Look over the agreement. If you agree, sign it and mail it to my company's legal department. If you don't, we'll wait out two years of separation and divorce through the courts.】
...
I'd barely reached the airport when I saw Janet and Timothy coming out from inside, still some distance off.
Timothy leaned down and held his phone up in front of Janet's face,
and Janet, smiling, wrapped an arm around his waist and pressed a kiss to the side of his face.
The two of them passed right by me.
I said nothing and kept walking.
After security, Lewis suddenly started crying in my arms.
I rocked him gently and patted him, still moving forward, and didn't see Janet stop short in the distance.
Her dazed eyes searched through the crowd.
At security, my phone had buzzed once. A message from Janet.
【I think I just saw you at the airport?】
I didn't reply. I turned and walked toward the gate.
The plane took off.
The night lights out the window flickered like a great fireworks display that had nothing to do with me.
I gave a small wave, and just like that, said goodbye to all the years tangled up with Janet.
