Chapter 2

I had barely landed in Monterey when the restaurant I'd booked for our housewarming called. Oliver had changed the event to Lily's celebration without changing the guest list or menu.

"She's bought new furniture," he said when I canceled it. "What difference does the floor make?"

"It was supposed to be the first time I invited friends into our home."

"I'll throw you another party when you stop sulking."

A designer posted photographs of Lily's finished apartment that afternoon. On the blueprints were notes I recognized from a list Oliver and I had written six years earlier, when we shared a cramped rental: flowers on the balcony, a cat after moving, grocery shopping together on Sundays, and a sunny bedroom for our future child.

Everything was finished. For Lily.

Oliver had also extended my hotel stay and requested my favorite breakfast. Even while he betrayed me, he remembered how I liked my oatmeal.

Then our shared travel savings account sent an alert. Almost $12,000 was gone. The itinerary covered fifteen days and four travelers: Oliver, Lily, Brooke, and Natalie. It followed the same route I'd planned with him for six years.

He had told me he would collect me after a business trip. The business trip was their vacation.

I sent the invoices, property documents, and screenshots to my attorney. I declined the hotel extension.

That afternoon, a waterfront events company offered me a position. I had applied before boarding the plane.

*I can start tomorrow,* I wrote.