Chapter 2

Cassie didn' t even hesitate.

"I' m on my way, David. Stay calm."

She grabbed her keys, her eyes flicking to me for a split second, a flash of something – annoyance? Guilt?

It didn't matter.

She was gone.

The door slammed again, a punctuation mark on her priorities.

As David' s car pulled away from his curb down the street a few minutes later, I thought I saw him glance towards our house.

A fleeting, almost imperceptible smirk.

Or maybe I imagined it.

The familiar ache started in my chest, the one that had been my constant companion for months.

But this time, it was duller.

I was tired of the pain.

Tired of her.

Cassie was gone for another "essential" work conference the following week.

It gave me time.

Time to think. Time to act.

I started packing.

Not her things. Mine.

My books, my clothes, my old engineering textbooks from Caltech.

The few personal items that hadn' t been swallowed by our shared life.

I went through the house, room by room.

The knick-knacks she' d bought, the furniture we' d picked out together.

It all felt tainted.

I called Goodwill.

They could have most of it.

I was methodical. Detached.

Each box packed was a step closer to Nevada.

A step closer to freedom.

Mrs. Henderson from next door saw the Goodwill truck.

She came over later, a plate of cookies in her hand.

"Ethan, dear, are you spring cleaning?"

Her eyes were kind, but sharp.

She' d always been observant.

"Something like that, Mrs. Henderson."

"I see Cassie with that Mr. Miller quite a lot," she said, her voice gentle. "Even late at night sometimes."

I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"The other day," she continued, lowering her voice, "I saw them in his driveway. He was crying, proper tears, and she was holding him. Holding him very close, Ethan. More than just friendly, if you ask me."

My stomach twisted.

"And I remember last winter, when you had that awful flu, you were on your own for days. She said she was swamped at work. But she always seems to have time for Mr. Miller' s emergencies, doesn' t she?"

Her words were like small, sharp stones, each one hitting a raw nerve.

She knew. Everyone knew.

Except me, apparently. Or I' d just refused to see it.

"Thank you for the cookies, Mrs. Henderson."

She patted my arm. "You take care of yourself, Ethan."

I closed the door, the weight of her words settling on me.

Cassie wasn't just being supportive.

She was being unfaithful.

Emotionally, and probably physically too.

The realization didn't bring fresh pain.

Just a cold, hard certainty.

And a deeper layer of disgust.

I had been a fool.

A blind, trusting fool.

I went back to the empty living room, the spaces where our furniture used to be now stark and bare.

I looked at the calendar on the kitchen wall.

Two more weeks until my official start date at Rocket Ridge.

I circled the date in red.

A countdown.

Cassie came back from her "conference" looking refreshed, oblivious.

She walked into the half-empty house without a comment, just a raised eyebrow.

"Decided to redecorate?"

"Something like that."

She dropped her purse on the kitchen counter.

"Can you make some coffee, Eth? I' m exhausted."

Eth. The nickname she' d used when things were good.

Now it just grated.

"The coffee machine is in one of those boxes for Goodwill," I said, my voice even.

"What? Why?"

"I don' t drink coffee anymore."

A small lie. But it felt good to deny her something, anything.

"Well, that' s just great." She sighed dramatically. "You' re being really difficult lately, Ethan. Is this still about David?"

"This is about us, Cassie. Or the lack thereof."

"Oh, for heaven' s sake." She rolled her eyes. "You' re just jealous. I told you, he' s a friend. I' m going to take a shower."

She tried to sound breezy, dismissive.

But I saw the flicker of unease in her eyes.

She knew something was different.

She just didn' t know what.

Or how final it was.

Later that evening, she tried a different tactic.

She came into the study where I was sorting through old blueprints.

She was wearing that silk robe I used to like.

She put her arms around my neck from behind, her perfume cloying.

"Eth, let' s not fight. How about a date night tomorrow? Just us."

Her touch made my skin crawl.

All I could think about was her hands on David, her soft words for him.