Chapter 2

2 Three months ago, I'd found a post Sarah had written on an online forum.

"I've been married for seven years. We got together because our parents wanted it. Seven years of marriage have drained all the passion. Life is so predictable, I can see the end from here. I can't live like this anymore. My first love came back recently. I want a divorce, but our lives and careers are so entangled. What should I do?"

The post was a month old, right around the time Josh had returned to town. So, Sarah had been planning her exit for a while. I hadn't been completely oblivious. Sarah had been, if not loving, at least tolerant of me. After Josh's return, she'd become impatient, distant, and started staying out all night.

After reading the post, I sat on the couch, a cigarette trembling between my fingers. The floor was littered with butts. The clock on the wall ticked relentlessly. I opened my phone and stared at my last text to Sarah, asking when she'd be home. She hadn't replied.

I sat there all night, but Sarah never came home. Then, I saw her new朋友圈post. It was a picture of a couple watching the sunrise, captioned, "So glad you're here." Our mutual friends, assuming it was me, congratulated her. Sarah herself replied, "Not him."

The irony was brutal. Sarah clearly didn't care about appearances anymore, openly flaunting her affair. I zoomed in on the picture, my hand shaking. The initials "J.R." were clearly visible on Sarah's wrist, glinting in the sunlight. Josh Roberts.

A sharp pain pierced my chest.

I'd foolishly believed that seven years was enough time for Sarah to forget him. I was wrong. Seven years had only solidified her feelings for Josh. They were meant to be together. I was just the placeholder, the convenient option.

Just then, our four-year-old daughter, Lily, wandered out, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Daddy, I'm hungry," she mumbled. "Where's Mommy?" Then, wrinkling her nose, she added, "Ew, Daddy, you stink! Why are you smoking so much?"

Seeing Lily, a flicker of warmth coursed through my numb body. I forced a smile. "Mommy will be home later. Let's get you some breakfast."

Lily was my everything.

After dropping Lily off at preschool, I stared at her receding back, a strange mix of regret and hope filling me. If I divorced Sarah, what would happen to Lily? She was only four.

Maybe Sarah was just catching up with Josh. We had Lily, after all. Clinging to this sliver of hope, I called Sarah.

Her voice was cold, impatient. "What is it, Mark? Let me guess, you're checking up on me again. It was just a sunrise, for God's sake! You're being so dramatic."

My heart sank. "No," I stammered. "I just wanted to see if you were busy."

"I'm back at the office. I have a meeting. I have to go."

The line went dead before I could respond. I stared at the phone, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. When had we become so estranged that we couldn't even have a three-minute conversation? Was our seven-year marriage really over? But Lily… she needed her mother.