After 8-Year Love Crash, I Won Big

Chapter 1

The hallway had no carpet. The floor was cold.

I didn't flinch. I walked out in long, steady strides.

Behind me came the sound of dress shoes.

"Mia, can you stop this?" Cole's voice came from behind me, thick with alcohol. "It was just one bouquet. I'll buy you a whole carload when we get back."

I pushed through the revolving glass door of the hotel. The wind hit my face hard.

I got into a cab parked along the curb. "Drive," I told the driver.

Cole ran up to the window and knocked on the glass twice, hard. His mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear a word through it. The cab merged into traffic. In the rearview mirror, he didn't chase after me. He stood where he was, brushed the dust off his suit trousers without looking up, and turned back toward the reception hall.

He was certain I'd come home on my own tonight.

Back at the apartment, I didn't turn on the living room light. I went to the bedroom, pulled the suitcase out from under the bed, and laid it open on the floor.

I slid the wardrobe open. Three-quarters of the left side was his clothes. My few jackets hung in the far right corner.

I took three changes of clothes and packed my underwear. From the bathroom, I grabbed my electric toothbrush and face wash. I left the facial wipes — his mother had bought those.

I zipped the suitcase shut. It was only half full, the mesh pocket slack and empty.

I stood in the doorway of the apartment I'd lived in for three years. Everything that belonged to me, cleared out in twenty minutes.

I carried the half-empty suitcase to the entryway and took out my phone. Seventeen unread messages on f*******:, from the bridesmaids, from close friends, from people we both knew. All of them asking what had happened, saying Cole was drinking alone at the table, telling me to hurry back and smooth things over.

I scrolled to the bottom. Seventeen messages. Not one from Cole. No missed calls. Not a single word.

In his eyes, my feelings never needed tending to. Leave them alone overnight and they'd sort themselves out.

I put my phone back in my pocket, pushed the door open, and let it lock behind me.