“You sure you don’t want to take anything else?” Alicia asked, her voice laced with concern.

I shook my head. “I want a fresh break. I don’t want anything that can remind me of them—of him. They’ve already taken everything of worth.”

Alicia wanted to argue but restrained herself when I slammed the door shut, maybe a bit too hard.

I strolled to her car, meandering over the new future I was suddenly thrust into. We were leaving town without a word or goodbye.

Alicia said she’d send for her things, which was a minor travel bag anyway. We also resigned to the fact that our parents would want to kill us, but they would have to settle for a phone call instead.

I refused to be stuck in that small town, trying to survive each day knowing that one, if not both betrayers, were close by. And I’d have to see Owen since I was a nurse and he was a physiotherapist working in the same hospital—the only hospital in the general vicinity.

Nope. That sounded all sorts of horrible, to remain in a realm of torture that I did not want to venture into.

I told him he’d never see me again, and I intended on keeping my promise.

As I went to get into Alicia’s car, a flash of moonlight reflected off the jewellery still settled on my finger.

Sprinting to the water’s edge, I tugged off my wedding rings and threw them as far as I could. I gave the lake another one of my firsts, letting the dark water swallow any last semblance of my marriage, of anything that consisted of Owen Ivans and me.

Chapter 3

OWEN

What have I done?

It had been a month since that disastrous night with Everly, and I was no closer to getting my shit together and doing right by my wife.

Since then, I hadn’t been able to sleep, eat or even look Alexis in the face. My conscience writhed from the truth that would break both our hearts.

Alexis’ work conference had ignited a new passion for her job, and she immediately wanted to implement what she had learnt. When she returned, she invested all her time and energy into putting those ideas into practice.

I took advantage of that distraction and worked overtime every night, hoping and fucking praying that she’d be asleep when I got home. Just so I wouldn’t have to look into her loving face, that sincere smile, those expressive green eyes that read me so well.