Chapter 3

Less than an hour after the decision to cut funding went out, Anderson was standing in front of me.

He loomed over me, eyes dripping with disdain:

"Just because of some unconfirmed rumor, you're pulling all our funding?"

"Ava, you're being laughably naive!"

This was Anderson's default setting with me.

Arrogant.

Dismissive.

He was so used to looking down on me, conveniently forgetting that his current standing and all his precious achievements were bankrolled by me.

My gaze drifted to the disposable lab shoe covers he still had on, a clear sign of his internal panic.

Raising an eyebrow at the blue plastic, I prodded one with the toe of my stiletto, making it crinkle:

"Anderson, what about your precious rules?"

After we got married, Anderson had handed me a list of rules that spanned five full pages.

If I dared to break a single one, he’d fly off the handle, sometimes even shaming me in public.

Now it was his turn to break a rule, but Anderson just brazened it out:

"Well, what do you expect when you suddenly announce you're cutting off the funds? I had to rush over. If anything goes wrong with our experiment, it’s entirely your fault!"

"Oh, really?" I scoffed. "So, you and Katelyn in the lab alone yesterday, was that by the rules? I distinctly remember your own rules stating the lab needs at least three people present to operate."

"You saw everything?"Anderson’s face darkened. He was about to say something when the sound of footsteps suddenly bursting in cut him off.

"Enough!"

Katelyn stood in the doorway, tears welling in her eyes, their rims red and puffy.

She stepped in front of Anderson, shielding him:

"If it's because of me that you stopped funding the lab, I can resign. Please, don't take your resentment for me out on innocent children with heart conditions."

As she choked out the last sentence, she covered her face and sobbed, the diamond on her ring finger glittering in the light.

Anderson, completely ignoring my presence, pulled Katelyn tenderly into his arms, whispering in her ear in that soft, coaxing voice one uses with a child:

"Kate, sweetie, go on outside and wait for me a little while, okay? I promise you won't be fired, and the lab’s funding won’t be cut."

When he turned back to me, Anderson’s whole demeanor was lighter. He casually sat down across from me, crossing his legs:

"Ava, so you were just being jealous and throwing a fit, huh? I’ll come home to be with you every day from now on, how about that?"

He reached out and stroked my cheek. "You’re thirty years old now, Ava. Stop being so childish all the time."

In five years of marriage, this was the very first time he’d ever, on his own, shown me any real kindness.

I’d always complained he wasn’t gentle enough, that his words and actions were so rigid, so cold.

Everyone always told me it’s common for scientists to be emotionally clueless, and that it's perfectly normal for them not to understand a woman’s heart.But seeing him so damn sweet and attentive to Katelyn just now? It was like a knife to my heart.

He could always be that gentle, you know. He just never wanted to be that way with me.

When I flinched away from his touch, Anderson’s face flashed with annoyance:

"I'm warning you, don't push your luck. Get that funding reinstated as soon as possible, or you can bet I’ll divorce you."

Divorce. That was Anderson's go-to weapon, and man, he wielded it like an expert.

The lab's too small? He'd threaten divorce.

The equipment's outdated? Threaten divorce.

Every single time he threw the D-word out there, my heart would shatter. I’d look at him, pleading, begging him to stay, promising him the moon if that’s what it took.

But this time... something felt different.

When Anderson finished, all he saw was my dead-calm expression.

"I'm off to the lab. Once you've come to your senses, tell Sarah to reverse the decision!"

With that parting shot, he hurried out.

My phone screen lit up.

A message popped up from an unsaved number:

[Ava, this Friday is the perfect day for a divorce.]