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“I want the house,” Ethan says the moment my butt hits the chair in front of his desk.

“What?”

“Look, I know it’s not what we agreed to in the beginning, but come on! We built that house on land my parents gave me. It’s my house.”

We built the house on land his parents gave us. It was a wedding gift. A lump settles in my throat. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

“I know,” Ethan says, stopping me from replying. “We financed the build together. So I’m willing to give you half of what we spent to build it.”

Half of what we spent to build it is less than one fifth of what the house is worth today. But that’s not what’s making the blood pound in my ears right now.

“We agreed that we wanted Chase to have his home, his room, that we weren’t going to force him to move every week. We agreed we were going to do what’s best for him. What the hell happened?”

Ethan raises his hands up in a defensive gesture at my tone. “Things change. And kids are very adaptable. Chase doesn’t seem upset at all by the divorce. You need to give him more credit.”

Right, because I’m the bad mom here who’s not giving her son credit. Chase doesn’t seem upset because he’s still in denial. He still thinks Mom and Dad are going to get back together and everything will be alright.

But Ethan already knows all this. We were on the same page when we talked about it a week ago.

“What changed?” I ask, my voice cold enough to give me goosebumps.

Ethan hesitates, but finally says, “Charlotte and I are moving in together. I can’t ask her to move every week. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

My vision goes red. It wouldn’t be fair for his mistress to move every week, but it’s fine for my son?!

I am frozen speechless as my brain tries to work out which insult to throw at him first. But before I can say anything, he stands up.

“I have to go pick up Chase,” he says, his legs moving so fast he’s practically running for the door. “You think about it and we’ll talk later.”

He exits the room, but pops his head back in. “But just so you know, I’m not leaving the house on Friday. If you want Chase, he’ll have to stay with you.”

He leaves the office, and I hear the front door chime when he opens it, then slams it shut behind him.

I walk back to my desk, numb.

I thought I was done being betrayed by Ethan now that we’re separated. But he already went back on his word to stay with me forever, so why not also break his word about keeping the house for Chase. But the stabbing pain in my chest feels just as sharp as the day he told me he was leaving. This was my person for almost twenty years. How did we get here? How can he do this? Why?

The tears come down like torrential rain.

I can’t do this. It’s only three p.m. and I have to be here until six. I can’t think about this right now. I need to postpone the breakdown. I don’t want to be caught crying at work.

I quickly freshen up in the bathroom, splashing water on my face. I’m not wearing any makeup. When you’re prone to crying spontaneously, it’s safer not to wear mascara.

I take a few deep breaths and go back to my desk.

The email from the New York corporate retreat is still open. Right. Someone needs to call Blake and ask if we can move the hiking trip to tomorrow morning. And then I need to reply to the email with an answer. And since I’d rather have my right arm ripped off by an angry grizzly bear than talk to Ethan right now, I guess I’m the one who has to do it.

I tap my heel up and down as I search for Blake’s number in my phone. I always liked Blake, and he always seemed to like me. But that was when I was his best friend’s wife. He was Ethan’s best man at our wedding. Now I’m his best friend’s ex, and other than exchanging a few quick hellos, we haven’t talked in a month, and I don’t know where we stand.

For all I know, he hates my guts.

Well, this is business, and there’s really no way out of it.

I call.

The phone rings twice and a rich, deep voice answers. “Amelia?”

I don’t know why the sound of my name on Blake’s lips makes my belly flutter. But I let out a sigh of relief. There’s no anger in his voice. If anything, he sounds pleasantly surprised.