He knelt in the rain outside my dorm eight years ago and begged me for three chances.
I gave him all three.
I sold my dead mother's piano to clear forty thousand in gambling debt and called it the first one.
I tore up a London promotion and called it the third.
Tonight I signed the divorce papers while his assistant waited in our bed with her shoes still on.
Andre didn't even look up from his phone.
He said the apartment was already in Renata's name.
He said I should be grateful he let me keep my clothes.
My hand didn't shake when I clicked play on the old recording, the one where his nineteen-year-old voice swore I would never cry because of him again.
He went pale.
Renata laughed and asked if I thought a voice memo could pay my rent.
She doesn't know what's in my coat pocket.
She doesn't know I took the test this afternoon and it showed two lines.
She doesn't know the man buying the building she just moved into handed me an umbrella in a subway station three years ago and never asked for it back.
I zipped my one suitcase.
I left the recording playing on a loop as I walked out the door.
Behind me Andre finally stood up and said my name like a question.
***
The zipper on my only suitcase jammed halfway around the track.
I dug my thumbnail into the metal teeth, prying the stubborn fabric loose until the edge of my last cotton shirt slipped safely inside. The cheap nylon strained against the seams, threatening to split open right there on the rug.
Across the living room, Andre swiped his thumb down his phone screen. He kept his head bowed, completely absorbed in whatever he was reading. He did not offer to help. He did not even look up.
Through the open doorway to the master bedroom, Renata sat on the edge of our mattress. She wore her muddy street shoes indoors. Her feet swung back and forth, thumping a lazy, rhythmic beat against the wooden bed frame.
A thick manila folder rested on the dining table between us. The divorce agreement.
"Hurry up, Quianna," Andre muttered, his eyes still locked on his glowing screen. "The locksmith gets here in twenty minutes."
I yanked the zipper closed. The harsh metallic scrape echoed off the bare walls. "You're changing the locks today?"
"The apartment belongs to Renata now," he said, finally dropping the phone into his lap. "The deed transferred yesterday morning."
My fingers tightened around the plastic handle of my luggage. "We bought this place together. I paid the down payment with my savings."
"And I refinanced it entirely under my LLC," he shot back, his tone flat and unyielding. "My lawyers made it completely legal. You should be glad I'm letting you pack your own clothes instead of tossing them in the dumpster."
I stared at the man sitting on the sofa. His tailored suit fit perfectly, purchased with the promotion he received last month. A promotion I helped him secure, staying up until three in the morning to format his presentation slides while he slept.
"Take only what you need," Andre added, waving a hand dismissively. "Leave the rest."
"Leave it for her?" I asked, glancing toward the bedroom.
Renata let out a sharp, mocking laugh. She hopped off the mattress, leaving faint dirt smudges on the white duvet cover. She strolled into the living area and leaned heavily against the doorframe, inspecting her nails.
"I don't wear cheap clothes, honey," Renata said, crossing her arms over her designer blouse. "Throw them out."
I ignored her entirely, keeping my focus pinned on Andre.
"Eight years, Andre," I said, my voice dropping low. "You stood in the pouring rain outside my dorm."
He scoffed, picking his phone back up. "Don't do this. Don't make a scene."
"You got on your knees in the mud," I pushed on, releasing the suitcase handle and taking a step toward him. "You cried like a child. You begged me for three chances. You swore to me, to my face, that you would never make me cry."
"Are we really doing a dramatic walk down memory lane?" Renata asked. "Because I have a spa appointment at four, and this tragic act is getting terribly boring."
"I believed you for six solid years," I told Andre, refusing to look away from him.
"People change, Q," Andre said. He rubbed his temples, feigning exhaustion. "We grew apart. We want different things now. Just sign the papers on the table so we can all move on with our lives."
"What about the forty thousand dollars?" I asked.
His jaw clenched tight. He refused to meet my gaze, staring instead at the edge of the glass coffee table.
"Year two of our marriage," I reminded him, closing the distance to the dining table. I tapped my index finger against the manila folder. "You gambled away forty grand on penny stocks. The loan sharks called my workplace. They threatened to break your legs."
"I handled that," he snapped, his voice rising in defense.
"I handled it," I corrected, slamming my palm flat against the table next to the divorce agreement. "I sold my mother's upright piano to an antique dealer. The one with her initials carved deep into the ivory keys. I handed you the cash in a paper bag and called it your first chance."
Andre shifted awkwardly on the sofa. The leather squeaked under his weight. "I said I was sorry about the piano. I told you I would buy it back when I made manager."
"You never did," I said. "You just bought Renata a car instead."
"You cried on the floor of our kitchen," I continued, the memory fueling the anger in my chest. "You begged me not to leave you. You promised you would go to therapy."
"I made a mistake," Andre muttered.
"Forty thousand dollars isn't a mistake. It's a choice."
"And I paid for it!"
"No, my mother paid for it. Her legacy paid for it."
Renata walked over to the table, her presence suffocating the small space. She smelled heavily of expensive perfume, a scent that had lingered on Andre's collars for months before I finally figured out the truth. She tapped her manicured nail against the signature line of the contract.
"All this sad talk about the past," Renata said, a cruel smirk playing on her bright red lips. "Is an old voice recording going to pay your rent next month? Because you are walking out of here with zero dollars and nowhere to go."
I did not answer her.
Instead, I slid my right hand into the deep pocket of my wool coat. My fingertips brushed against cold, hard plastic.
The pregnancy test.
I had taken it at two o'clock this afternoon in the cramped bathroom of a gas station down the street. Two solid pink lines glared back at me under the flickering fluorescent lights.
My thumb traced the edge of the plastic stick hidden in the dark fabric. I could pull it out right now. I could drop the positive test directly on top of the divorce papers and watch the smug color drain from Andre's face. He always wanted a child. He complained for years that we were falling behind our friends, blaming my demanding job for our empty nursery.
My heart hammered against my ribs. The nausea I had been fighting all morning threatened to rise in my throat.
I squeezed the plastic tight, my nails digging into my own palm.
Then, I slowly pulled my empty hand out of my pocket.
He did not deserve to know. Not today. Maybe not ever.
I reached out and picked up the black pen resting beside the folder.
"Just sign it," Andre pressed, standing up from the sofa and taking a step toward the table. "Make it easy on yourself, Q. Don't drag this out."
I leaned over the table, pressing the pen tip to the paper. I dragged the ink across the dotted line, spelling out Quianna Verlowe for the absolute last time as his wife. The ink bled slightly into the thick paper.
I dropped the pen. It clattered loudly against the polished wood.
"There," I said, stepping back from the table. "It's done."
"Good," Andre said, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. He reached out to grab the folder.
I pulled my phone from my back pocket and quickly tapped the screen.
I pressed play.
The audio file blasted at maximum volume through the quiet apartment.
"Please, Q!" Nineteen-year-old Andre's voice sobbed through the speaker, accompanied by the loud, heavy sound of falling rain hitting the pavement. "Just give me three chances! I swear on my life, I will never let a single tear fall from your eyes again! I'll die before I hurt you!"
Andre's hand froze inches from the divorce papers. His head snapped up, his eyes wide with sudden panic.
He vaulted forward, his knee slamming hard into the edge of the coffee table.
"Q, you—"
