She dropped it. “I filed for divorce.” A tear spilled out of each eye. “Um, in Montana, we can file through the mail. We just have to notarize everything.” Her voice wavered but she took a steadying breath while my world caved in around my ears. “Since I signed a prenup, it should be pretty straightforward. I have what I earned. You have everything else. The house is yours of course. I make a decent wage at the library, and I have a retirement plan, so no need to worry that I’m going to fight you for anything.”

“You get half,” I mumbled. Why did I say that? I didn’t want her to go, but I’d kept the specifics from her long enough. She needed to know everything. Another ping. My email could go fuck itself. “Of the trust. We’ve been married over a year. You get half. Fifty million.”

The amount meant nothing to me. The trust meant nothing. The urge to tell her that nearly choked me, but then I’d have to explain why. She might be angry with me, but I couldn’t have her leave me because I was pathetic.

“Fifty mil—” She blinked and another tear snaked down her cheek. “Good thing we’ve been married for four years, then.”

Her bitter sarcasm stoked my desperation. Divorce? No. It wasn’t possible. “Kate—”

“Goodbye, Aiden.”

Panic clawed in my gut. “Aren’t we going to talk about this?”

“If you wanted to talk about this, you would’ve by now.” She turned away from me.

I’d had so much time to tell Kate everything. But I hadn’t. Talking had gotten me nowhere and there had always been a reason not to. Wrong time. Work. My brothers. Now…four years, gone. Just like that.

I stood. She had no idea how many times I’d wanted to tell her. To bury myself in her arms and spill everything. I needed more time. “Kate.”

My wife walked out the door and out of my life, softly closing the door behind her.

No. This wasn’t my life. I planned. I researched. I deliberated. I went home to Kate. But she dropped divorce papers on my desk and vanished?

“Kate!” I hadn’t raised my voice in so long, it cracked at the end. There was no reply as the world imploded so quietly inside the office that had become my prison.

I could go after her, but Kate would hate being the center of drama like that. My feet stayed rooted to the floor. “Kate!”

Another ping, followed by a ding.

A roar ripped out of me, scorching my throat as it banged off the walls. I yanked my screen off the desk and heaved it across the room. It hit the wall, but I couldn’t tell if the clatter was coming from the plastic bits that went flying or my heart.

Kate