She laughed. “Mom says you were dramatic before, but Eric fixed that.”
I turned and looked at her.
For one second, her smile disappeared.
Then Diane entered carrying paint samples.
“We’re doing the nursery in sage,” she said. “And I want your office cleared by Friday. Madison needs a quiet feeding room.”
“My office?”
“Yes. You can work from the dining table.”
I almost admired the arrogance.
Instead, I said, “Friday works.”
That evening, Eric came into the bedroom while I was scanning documents.
He leaned against the door. “Mom says you’ve been much easier lately.”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?”
“About how fast life can change.”
He laughed. “Don’t start being weird again.”
Then he noticed a folder on my desk marked PROPERTY.
“What’s that?”
I closed it.
“Work.”
He believed me because he had never cared enough to understand what I actually did.
The strongest clue came two nights later.
At dinner, Diane raised a glass of sparkling cider.
“To Madison’s fresh start,” she said. “And to this house staying in the family.”
Eric grinned. “Eventually we should put Mom on the title too. Just to keep things simple.”
I stared at him.
“On the title?”
He waved his fork. “You know what I mean. This place is basically ours.”
I smiled slowly.
“No,” I said. “It really isn’t.”
They laughed.
Three days later, I signed the closing documents.
The wire reached my private account at 11:06 a.m.
At 11:17, I booked a one-way business-class ticket to London using the British passport I had inherited through my mother’s citizenship.
At 6:00 that evening, I cooked Eric’s favorite dinner.
He never noticed that half my closet was already empty.
He also never noticed the suitcase in my car trunk, packed with every document I valued more than the marriage.
I left on a Thursday morning.
Eric thought I was flying to Chicago for a two-day conference.
He barely looked up from his phone when I rolled my suitcase toward the door.
“Bring back deep-dish,” he said.
Diane called from the kitchen, “And tell housekeeping to change Madison’s sheets before you go.”
I paused, then smiled. “Of course.”
By noon, I was through airport security.
By evening, I was over the Atlantic.
