She didn’t mention that Lisa would be going with her as insurance, as a shield. In case he tried to be there to stop her, to cling to her things and keep them from her.

That muscle ticked in his jaw. “You can’t just go around when you feel like it.”

So much for it was “their” house. Cora took a calming breath, one that felt shaky. “I know. It’s why I’m here talking to you about it.”

“Are you fucking someone else?”

“What?” Cora actually spluttered the word. She hadn’t known people did that in real life. Heat flamed her cheeks. “No, of, of course not.”

He was staring at her, his eyes cold. It took everything in her to meet his look. Because, she told herself, she wasn’t.

Not anymore.

And somehow that got her through his interrogative stare.

“Take all of your stuff, Cora. There is no way you’re going to get the house in the divorce. You’ll get nothing.”

It didn’t seem wise in that moment to say that she didn’t want the house. She didn’t want anything. She’d rather start fresh, start new. To sort out the money side of the mortgage and move on. Because mostly, all she could think about was Frazer’s eyes, the green that followed her, and the words Cora wanted to say but wasn’t sure of.

With a nod, Cora stood and fled the room and the man that she didn’t recognise. Her fingers were shaking, and for the first time since all this had started, Cora wondered how she was supposed to keep working with her soon-to-be ex-husband.

And her ex-lover.

On her way out, she gave Tia a smile where she sat at her desk. It felt thin, like it stretched her cheeks. Tia just watched her, unblinking.

With a straightening of her spine, Cora went to see how Jack was doing.

* * *

The canteen smelt like fried food, and Frazer’s stomach grumbled so loudly that the man in the line ahead of her turned around to stare at her with raised eyebrows. She just stared back at him blankly. When it grumbled again, he gave a snort, and she gave in with a wry grin.

Her tray ladened with everything fried from the menu, she scanned the room for somewhere to sit and wrinkled her nose at the sight in front of her. Every table looked full, the room flooding over with the sick, their visitors, and the hospital staff alike. If the rain would stop lashing down outside, she’d go find a cement wall to stare at that was at least in cleaner air than here. Clutching her tray closer, she spotted a free table at the back, near one of the doors that led out of the canteen.