Chapter 2

The second I got home, Hunter's texts started blowing up my phone.

"Wait for me. I can explain."

"I didn't forget your birthday. I have a gift. I'm on my way home…"

On and on. Dozens of them.

I didn't answer a single one.

I sat at my computer, staring at the overseas job offer sitting in my inbox. My cursor hovered over "Accept."

I kept scrolling through our memories. Three years dating. Three years married.

So much of it was good.

Or so I thought.

Now I couldn't tell what was real and what was a lie.

He swore he hated fish. Hated the smell.

Then he spent his mornings in the stinkiest fish market in town, kissing some girl who gutted trout for a living.

He was the youngest, most promising professor at the university. The gentle husband. The man who tipped waiters and held doors.

And just like that — he was on his knees in fish guts, for her.

Tears welled up but didn't fall.

The sun went down. The house got dark.

Night came.

Hunter never came home.

No explanation. No message. Nothing.

I pressed my hand against my mouth. And finally, I cried out loud.

That offer letter from a week ago? I clicked "Accept."

That's it. Done.

Then I called a lawyer. Had him draft divorce papers and start calculating our assets.

Hunter stumbled through the door past midnight.

I was on the couch. The papers sat on the coffee table in front of me.

He stood in the doorway, staring at the back of my head.

His first words weren't an apology. They were a confession.

"It's not what you think, me and Yuna."

"Four years ago, I was out at sea on a research trip. There was an accident. She saved my life."

"She's got nobody, Mia. Everything I do for her — it's just paying her back."

"She told me I'm the only person in her world. That she'd die without me."

"You're different. You have family. Friends. She's got nothing but me."

My chest ached all over again.

My eyes stung. I asked him, quietly:

"There are a thousand ways to pay back a debt, Hunter. You had to pick cheating?"

He exploded.

He ripped off his jacket and hurled it at the floor. Pointed his finger right at my face.

"Mia Lane!"

"What cheating? Yuna and I — one kiss! One goddamn kiss!"

"Nothing else happened!"

First time he'd ever yelled at me. Three years. First time.

I swallowed the knot in my throat.

"Okay. Fine. I accept that."

"But if you can eat her fish, why the hell couldn't I eat fish in my own house?"

He froze. The rage drained out of his face.

He walked over and pulled me into his arms.

The reek of fish hit me like a wall. My stomach rolled.

I tried to push him off. He held tighter.

"Mia honey, you don't get it. You're not like her."

"You're beautiful. You come from money. You've got parents who worship the ground you walk on."

"And her? She doesn't know who her parents are. She doesn't even know my real name."

"All she wants is for me to be there. She doesn't care about anything else."

"I had to give her *something*."

Something.

I laughed. Dry and ugly.

"So you gave her a lie about hating fish? And ate it with her instead?"

"No—"

"Then what?!"

"I promised her I'd only share meals with her. For life."

The room went dead silent.

I stared at him with red, exhausted eyes.

Whatever tiny flame I had left — the one still whispering maybe we can fix this — it died.

He opened his mouth. Closed it.

"Baby, don't look at me like that…"

I started clapping. Slow.

"Wow, Hunter. You're a goddamn saint. A real martyr."

"Even your meals come with a color-coded chart. Her plate, my plate — nice and separate!"

"Mia, stop—"

"I didn't break our vows. I didn't betray our marriage. I just—"

"Hunter!"

I said his name. He stopped.

His eyes shook.

I whispered it:

"I want a divorce."

The tears came with the words.

Because I'd never, not once, pictured a day I'd say that to him.

His pupils blew wide.

"Mia, no — that's not what I want! I never wanted to lose you!"

"I—!"

His phone rang.

He looked down at the screen. Whatever he was about to say died in his throat.

I said it softly:

"Answer it. She's calling this late — must be something serious."

He kept patting my shoulder as he walked to the window and picked up.

Like he wanted me to see he had nothing to hide.

He put it on speaker.

"Hunt! The tide came in — all the fish you caught for me today, they're gone! All of them!"

"I can't do this alone — please come help me!"

He turned and looked at me.

Pure begging in his eyes.

I dropped my gaze.

"Go, Hunter. Those fish are her whole livelihood, right?"

He practically sagged with relief. Didn't even say goodbye. Just grabbed his keys and bolted.

The door slammed shut.

The clock on the wall ticked past midnight.

Silence. Like no one had ever lived here.

I whispered to myself:

"Happy thirtieth birthday, Mia."

"From here on out, you throw your own parties."

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