The fluorescent bulb above the cheap hotel desk flickered, casting long, erratic shadows against the peeling wallpaper. My phone buzzed against the nightstand, vibrating hard enough to rattle a plastic water bottle.
A notification flashed across the cracked screen. Joint Visa card: $14.50 at Blue Bean Cafe.
Lucas buying his morning lattes. Two of them.
I grabbed the phone and dialed the toll-free number on the back of my plastic card.
"Customer Service, this is Mark. How can I assist you?"
"I need to make immediate changes to the account ending in 4921," I said, staring at a water stain on the ceiling.
"All right, I can help with that. Can you verify your billing zip code?"
I rattled off the numbers of the house I no longer lived in.
"Thank you, Grace. What changes are we making today?"
"Cancel all authorized users. Right now."
"Let me pull up the profile. I see one secondary cardholder. A Lucas..."
"Yes. Terminate his access."
"Done. Anything else?"
"Stop every automatic payment linked to the checking account. Electric, water, internet, gas. All of it."
"Ma'am, cancelling auto-pay without setting up alternatives will result in service interruptions and late fees."
"I'm aware. Shut them down."
"Processing now. Is there a new address you'd like to put on file for paper statements?"
"No. Keep it at the current address." Let Lucas deal with the mail. Let him see the consequences in black and white.
"All set, Grace. Have a good day."
"You too, Mark."
I ended the call and dialed the airline's personnel department.
"Employee Services, Brenda speaking."
"Brenda, it's Grace. senior flight attendant, ID 8834."
"Grace! You're on leave, aren't you? How was the early flight home? Did Ben love the surprise?"
The question felt like a physical blow to the ribs. I kept my posture rigid. "Plans changed. I'm calling to push through my transfer to Ground Safety Training."
"Wait, really? You submitted that draft months ago but never finalized it."
"I'm finalizing it now."
"You want off the international night routes? You'll lose the premium flight pay, the layover per diems, the seniority bidding. Everything."
"I don't care about the money. I need a local schedule. Monday to Friday, nine to five."
"Are you sure? You've been flying transatlantic for six years."
"Process the paperwork, Brenda. I need to report to the training center on Monday."
"All right. I'll push it through the system."
The moment Brenda hung up, my phone vibrated against the particle-board desk. Lucas.
I stared at his smiling contact photo. A picture taken last Christmas. I answered on the third ring.
"What kind of childish game are you playing, Grace?" His voice blasted through the speaker, thick with irritation.
"Hello, Lucas."
"Don't 'Hello, Lucas' me. I just got a shut-off notice from the electric company," he snapped. "And the internet is down. Did you mess with the accounts?"
"I cancelled the auto-pay."
"Are you insane? I have a Zoom conference in an hour. Turn it back on."
"Call the utility companies yourself."
"I don't even know the account passwords!"
"Figure it out. You're a capable man."
"Stop acting like a dramatic teenager and fix the wifi. Sophie is trying to stream an educational movie for Ben."
The mention of her name made my jaw clench. My fingernails dug into my palms. "Since my bedtime recordings aren't up to your standards, I'm resigning from my other duties too."
"What does that even mean?"
"The logistics nanny is officially off the clock. Learn to read a bill."
"Grace, you're overreacting. You walked in on us playing a game with our son. You're throwing a tantrum over nothing."
"A tantrum?" I asked with a harsh, dry laugh that echoed in the tiny hotel room. "Enjoy the dark, Lucas."
"If you hang up on me—"
I ended the call.
By two o'clock, I stood in the middle of a sunlit, one-bedroom apartment downtown.
"It's small," Mr. Evans, the leasing agent, said. He tossed a set of brass keys onto the bare kitchen counter. The metal clattered loudly in the empty space. "But the natural light is fantastic."
"It's perfect," I said, walking toward the large window. The city skyline stretched out below, unfamiliar.
"Most people want more space. You're sure?"
"There's no history here. Where do I sign?"
He slid the contract across the counter, tapping a pen against the paper. "Right at the bottom. The deposit covers your first and last month."
I signed my name on the dotted line.
"Welcome home," he said, taking his copy of the lease.
The second the door clicked shut behind him, I locked the deadbolt.
Bare hardwood floors. White walls. Nothing that belonged to my husband. Nothing that smelled like Sophie's vanilla perfume. No limited-edition toy rockets scattered on the rug.
I unzipped my duffel bag and pulled out a tiny plastic case. Inside rested the micro-SD card holding three hundred and sixty-five bedtime stories. I sat on the floor, resting my laptop on my knees, and pushed the card into the slot.
Track 01 played.
"Goodnight, Ben. The brave little astronaut is always watching over you."
My own voice piped through the speakers, falsely bright, hiding the exhaustion of a fourteen-hour shift over the Atlantic.
"And then, the brave little astronaut flew past the moon," I whispered to the empty room, echoing the words Sophie had stolen from me.
A hot tear spilled over my lower lash line, splashing onto the laptop keyboard. I swiped the moisture away with the back of my hand. Crying wouldn't fix this. Crying wouldn't get my son back.
I dragged the entire audio folder onto my desktop, backing up every file. The progress bar filled, turning a solid, undeniable green.
I pulled the card out and set it aside. Then, I opened my email client.
Shadows stretched across the empty living room as the sun dipped below the horizon. I remained cross-legged on the bare floorboards, the glow of my laptop illuminating my face.
The draft email from my lawyer, David Thorne, sat ready in my outbox.
"Are you sure you want to send this today?" Thorne had asked on the phone an hour ago. "Once he sees the custody demands, the gloves come off."
"Send the draft to my inbox," I had told him. "I'll do it myself."
Now, I stared at the subject line. Formal Notice of Separation and Intent to Divorce.
Attached was a PDF detailing the division of assets, the sale of the house, and my initial demands for physical custody of Ben.
I rested my finger on the trackpad.
I pressed click.
The swoosh sound echoed in the quiet room.
Thirty seconds later, my phone lit up on the floor beside me. Lucas.
I let it ring. The vibration buzzed against the wood. It stopped, then immediately started again. A third time. A fourth. A fifth.
I picked up the device. The screen glared in the dark.
I tapped his contact profile, swiping his name directly into the blocked list, and the bright screen faded to black, plunging the empty room into total darkness.
