r for a full minute. His cheek still st

ff his tie and throwing it on the floor. He y

sto

e of the clo

shelves of handbags-all gone. Only the bare wooden

and walked back out to the living room. The

e were he

of the living room, a manila folder

?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

wn, Emm

, stripped of all the emotion, the anger,

ver to the coffee table an

is t

en

he folder and

f the first page hit h

DISSOLUTION

ped through the pages. She was asking for nothing. No alimony. No p

was no humor in it. He threw the folder b

his eyes hard. "You think this is a negotia

ion," Fiona said. "I

ng his height to loom over h

York is a no-fault state

ed divorce," he shot back. "And I will

ked up at him, her gaze unflinc

g in the air

n hardened. "We're n

rying your child. And I lost it. While I was lying on that f

ere was no baby! You made it up to manipulate me, just like you

said, her voice shaking with suppresse

pital, where are the bills? Wh

ped it over, revealing the single sentence she had written on the back in the hospital bed: I, Fiona Miller, am taking my life back. "But I've

a hand through his hair. "Do you think I'm stupid?

und tearing from her throat. "I lost a child! Our

e dropping to a cold, deadly whisper, "which i

na like a sledgeh

lungs. The room

did yo

fensive, arrogant. "A clump of cells is not a child. And I certain

or three years. The man she had built a life

s a m

ied. It was like watching a candle being

o her bag and p

dn't read them. She didn't hesitate. She signed her nam

n on the table and shov

gn

in her eyes unsettled him. This wasn't the Fiona he kne

at him like he was

but his voice w

d the handle of her suitcase,

Emmanuel asked, panic c

from

st above the elbow. His grip was bruis

ack." His voice was a low threat. "I mean it, Fiona

is hand on her arm, th

go of

listeni

this is a game? You think I'm doing this for attention? I would rather s

open and dragged her sui

Emmanue

llway and pressed the b

, his chest heaving. "Don't y

ona stepped inside. She t

he just looked at him wi

ut, cutting her o

aring at the closed metal doors. The si

fee table. The signed divorce papers sat th

p, his hands tre

was