My life was right on track. Dream job; check. Loving fiancé; check. Beautiful son; check.

The only problem was that my promotion came at a time when that fiancé was too busy loving someone else, and that son of mine was wailing like a banshee wondering why in the hell we were standing outside the door of an apartment he didn’t recognize as home.

Well, that makes two of us, buddy. Because I wasn’t sure how we’d come to be here, renting this apartment, despising everyone I came across, and wishing I could figure out where I went wrong.

Maybe I never would know. Maybe I was destined to question myself from here on out, knowing full well that, even though I didn’t know what it was, there was something I hadn’t done right, and that something had pushed away my husband to be, my high school sweetheart who’d held my heart for more than a decade. And whatever it was, it’d pushed him right into the arms of another woman.

“Come on, buddy. It’s okay, let’s get inside so I can get the rest of our boxes.”

Luxe looked up at me with red rimming his eyes and confusion blanketing his face. It killed me that this would become the new normal for him, for us. Wiggling the key in the knob and giving a shove to the door, it finally opened. In the entryway we stood, both of us scanning the new place. Empty, white walls, beige carpet. There was nothing truly homey about this place, but we would make do.

“Where’s Daddy?” Luxe’s voice shook as he stepped in before me, walking around the empty living area with a sense of apprehensive wonder. A smile finally crossed his face, momentarily distracted by the newness. If only I could have that childlike sense of wonder again.

“He’s working, sweetie. He’ll come later to pick you up, though.” I walked down the narrow hallway to Luxe’s room and set the box down, sliding my key across the tape to open it up. “Here you go!” I hollered, peeking out from his door. “You play in here while Mommy gets the rest of our stuff, okay?”

“Okay!” He toddled down the hallway toward me in his big fluffy coat. Laughter escaped me at the sight. Through all the darkness and sadness I’ve endured lately, he’s my light and happiness. Tears pooled in my eyes as my emotions got the best of me.

I quickly left his room so he wouldn’t see me cry, leaning my back against the wall as though it might help me hold myself together somehow, if only for a moment. The tears crept their way down my cheeks yet again, but I wiped them away and pulled my shit together. I had to, not just for Luxe, but for myself, too.

Making my way down the lengthy staircase and out to my car, I opened the trunk and instantly changed my mind. There was no way I’d be able to get the heavier boxes up all those stairs on my own. I grabbed a couple I knew I could handle and slammed the trunk closed. Zach would have to deal with them for me when he came to pick up his son. It was his fault we were here, anyway.

“Vroom! Whoosh!” I peeked into Luxe’s room and he was playing with his favorite toy airplane that his dad had got him during one of his business trips.

The thought of him being with another woman during those trips caused acid to rise in my throat. He swore to me those trips were necessary for him to work his way up in the company, and I’d foolishly believed him.

There you go again, I thought to myself. Thinking about him, instead of focusing on what matters. Luxe. Yourself. And whatever kind of life this is that we’re building.

It wasn’t easy to let go of what Zach had done to me—to our family—and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to. Right now, I knew I wasn’t capable of it. There was no room for forgiveness in my heart; it was too full of resentment.

And humiliation.

I’d heard about these things happening—men getting bored with their comfortable, routine family lives and finding someone more interesting on the side. Hell, over a year ago, I’d even been conscious enough of the change in our relationship to ask him about it. There’d been a distance there that I’d never noticed before, and Zach had started staying later at the office, going on more business trips, and focusing more on his work than the family waiting for him at home.

Paranoid. That’s what he’d called me. It’d irked me then, and it irked me even more now. He’d assured me there was no reason for me to worry about us, that we were fine. But, I guess that was easy to say when he had his blonde bombshell of a coworker keeping him company during all those late-night hours at the office.

The worst part? Everything probably would have continued on just as it was if he hadn’t had the audacity to confess to the affair in the same measured voice one would use to admit they’d accidentally killed a fucking houseplant. I’d have remained on the same blind pathway, ignoring the signs and pretending everything would be okay, and he’d have continued to fuck Tiffany, or Tamara, or whatever the hell her name was.

But Zach confessed his year-long sin to me, and then chose that sin over Luxe and me.

Which led me here. In this very nice, overly modern, two-bedroom apartment, with a confused toddler and shattered heart. The scent of new paint and cleaning chemicals was strong, and despite the chilly weather outside, I opened one of the kitchen windows a crack to air out the room.

I pried open the cardboard box I’d slid onto the counter and sighed. There wasn’t even enough household items in it to make a meal. To hell with it, I’ll go grab one more box. I’d packed them myself, so I knew the one I wanted.

“I’ll be right back, Luxe! Just going back out to the car for a quick second.” From the end of the hallway, I saw he hadn’t even looked up at the sound of my voice, too enthralled with his toy to pay me any mind. Good, at least one of us was content.

I left the apartment again, locking the door behind me even though I’d only be a minute. On the way toward the flight of seven stairs, I saw the silver nameplate on the door of the apartment closest to mine.

J. Nightingale.

Inwardly, I cringed. I really hoped not to have some crotchety old neighbor to deal with, but I wasn’t really in the position to negotiate. I’d needed an apartment, and this one was available on short notice in a decent part of the city, with enough room for Luxe to be comfortable and have the space he needed to be a kid.

I made it out to my car and back into the building in record time. Making my way up the stairs with the box full of kitchen supplies, I tripped, unfamiliar with the staircase, and fell flat on my stomach. Everything from the box spilled out and scattered everywhere.

“Jesus, are you okay?”

I hadn’t even seen him until he spoke, much too engrossed in my own humiliation and utter disbelief at the moment. Then, when I raised my gaze and saw the tall, dark-haired man staring at me with concerned, piercing blue eyes, I was more embarrassed than I’d ever been in my life.

Which sparked anger within me, justified or not.

“I’m fine.” I looked away, unable to meet his eyes again as I scrambled to pick up the box’s contents from the stairs and floor.

He ducked down onto one knee, not caring about the dirt or mud on the floor, and helped put things back into the box. “That was a nasty fall though—”

“I said I’m fine.” I pushed his hand away, heat flaming in my cheeks.

I didn’t see the expression he wore, but I heard the shift in his voice. “I was just—”

“You were just interjecting yourself in something that doesn’t concern you. I said I’m fine,” I snapped, throwing the last of the items into the box. “But thanks.”

I rose to my feet, catching only a fleeting glimpse of his face. Very attractive, very confused, and...

Hurt.

Damn it, I thought to myself. The rational part of me knew he’d only been trying to help, but the humiliated part was bigger, and much louder at the moment. It occurred to me to wonder if that was the new me—angry, crass, and standoffish. Or, maybe that’s just what was left of the old me. The me I’d been with Zach.

Either way, that version of me was dead, leaving only the smoldering fury inside me. And judging by the way I’d just lashed out at an innocent bystander, that smoldering fire was bound to ignite eventually, and when it did... Well, I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.