Chapter 1
Sylvia's POV:
Philip Lammeter's hand froze in midair.
Our son, Kane Lammeter, stood on tiptoe and flipped over the reservation card on the counter for our "family of three" portrait.
"Mom, two people can take a family picture, too, right?"
"Of course."
I removed his tie. He'd picked out the navy blue one especially to match his father.
It had been 28 days since I'd started teaching Kane to address Philip differently.
Almost a month earlier, I'd found a jewelry repair receipt in my husband's suit pocket.
In a photo Nicole Hayes had posted from a dinner, she was wearing the exact pair of emerald earrings listed on the receipt.
In the picture, Philip was reaching across a candlelit table to fasten one of the earrings for her.
On our anniversary, he'd grabbed his coat and said, "The board members invited me to dinner. Don't wait up."
Then he'd gone to dinner with his first love at the very restaurant I'd reserved six weeks in advance.
When I put the photo in front of him, he barely glanced at it before saying, "She's newly divorced and back here with a child. She has no one else to rely on. Sylvia, it was just dinner. You're being too sensitive."
"I don't want to be your wife anymore."
He took off his watch and tossed it onto the table.
"What about Kane? Are you going to take his father away from him, too?"
Kane stood on the stairs, clutching his old stuffed whale.
The moment he heard his name, he shook his head, tears falling onto the whale's faded tail.
Seeing him like that, I couldn't bring myself to continue the argument.
The next day, my attorney, Jemma Shaw, brought over the separation, divorce, and custody agreements.
I signed them first, then slipped them into a stack of Kane's school enrollment paperwork and handed everything to Philip.
Nicole happened to call just then.
Without even looking through the papers, he picked up a pen and asked, "Where do I sign?"
I slid the first page of the divorce agreement toward him.
"Are you sure you don't want to read this one?"
"You can handle anything involving Kane," he answered distractedly, already laughing at something Nicole was saying on the phone.
I handed the signed agreement to Jemma.
"File it on the 30th day from today. I need time to find us a place to live and arrange a new school for Kane."
She rested a hand on the documents.
"If you change your mind before then, call me anytime."
"I won't."
I withdrew my hand.
I would use the remaining days to help Kane learn to stop relying on Philip.
"Mr. Lammeter" was what his driver and assistants called him.
Whenever he abandoned us, I'd stop Kane from running after him.
"Don't chase him. Call him Mr. Lammeter."
"But Dad's just really busy."
Kane was only 7, yet he'd wait by the door until his knees nearly gave out from exhaustion, still refusing to leave.
Every time I asked him to use the new name, he'd lower his head as though he'd done something wrong.
It always took him a long time to get the words out.
Today, he'd called Philip "Mr. Lammeter" without any prompting.
I'd been waiting for this day.
Yet hearing him say it brought me no relief.
I tightened my grip on his small hand and only then realized he'd been trembling the entire time.
"Kane," Philip finally said. "What's wrong?"
Our son lowered his head and crushed the discarded tie in his fist.
My husband's phone vibrated again.
Nicole's voice came through the receiver.
"They're about to take the family photo. Hugo refuses to go onstage. He says a family without a dad isn't a real family."
Philip glanced past us toward the door. "I'll be right back."
Kane was still clutching his tie when Philip pushed open the door and left.
The photographer approached us.
"Would you like to wait for the boy's father?"
I shook my head and put away the reservation card.
"We won't be taking the picture today."
Kane wrapped his arms around my waist.
His lips pressed against my clothes, and it took him a long time to force out the words.
"Mom, can we... cast my dad out of our lives?"
