behind his massive oak desk, surrounded by stacks of documents relate

e cup of black coffee. Her hand was bandaged,

offee on a coast

ng," s

didn't look at h

ck stack of papers

e said. "The accountants are chasing me. They need th

es. "Can't you just fo

oke. Or mayb

said. "Just a few signatur

d it masterfully. The top pages were boring, dense fi

inted to a yel

ed. Hayes

d h

gned

her ribs like a trapped bird. Her pal

ed to the

vered by the previous document, folded over as if to

f Contest and Disso

id. Her voice was

pen down. The tip

ay, a shriek p

Hayes,

s Fel

ing across the paper, creating a long, jagge

Hayes yelled, d

hoved past Eliana. He didn't mean to shove her

er of the heavy bookshelf. A sharp pain shot down h

n't even turn his head. H

keep from crying out

ked at

pa

ing fingers and pulled the

as messy, trailed by a line of ink from his st

he heard Feli

It hurts so bad! I

eyes for a secon

"I've got you. Let's get you to

nt door

turned to

three years. She looked at the paper in her hand. It was m

photo of the signature page. She se

, she

. Legally, you are a single woman. I

lips. It wasn't a happy smile. It was the smile of a priso

s phone was sitting there, forgotte

p. A notificatio

Thank you for

stare

the phone

she whispered.

ced them neatly in the recycling bin. She folded the divorce agreement a