Chapter 1

As I walked out of the courthouse on the day of my divorce from Vicente Buckley, the sky threatened to rain.

"Patricia." Vicente opened the passenger door of his car. "Let me take you home."

Before I could respond, my son, Jamie Buckley, poked his smartwatch through the rear window. "Dad, Kinsley said she would make me nougats tonight. She's already bought groceries and is at our doorstep."

Vicente frowned slightly and said, "Go inside."

Jamie glared at me before reluctantly getting into the car.

"No, thanks," I replied firmly. "I won't interrupt your dinner."

Vicente muttered to himself, "We can go to your favorite restaurant tonight."

I gently reminded him, "Vicente, we're divorced now."

He looked up, his eyes reddening momentarily before regaining composure. "Yeah, but we should part on good terms. Besides, it's been a while since our family of three..."

I interrupted him, "That restaurant closed down two months ago. I told you about it."

We used to love dining there when we were in college. It was an old restaurant in the area. The owner announced on social media he would sell it two months ago.

I mentioned it twice to Vicente, yet he was too busy to go there with me.

By the time he was free, the restaurant was shuttered, followed by the end of our nine-year relationship.

"Vicente, take good care of Jamie. I won't disturb you anymore," I said before hailing a taxi and leaving Prodale with my few belongings and a broken heart.

I discovered Vicente's betrayal after a class reunion. Ironically, his mistress was none other than my college roommate, Kinsley Gilmore. When I arrived home, they had already made love. Vicente was in the shower, while Kinsley was helping Jamie build a Lego pirate ship.

When the last piece was in place, Jamie kissed Kinsley on the cheek, dancing with joy. "Kinsley, you're so cool! I love you the most!"

Kinsley smiled contentedly, ready to pick Jamie up until she saw me standing there, her arms frozen in mid-air. "Patricia?" she said with a strained smile. "I thought you weren't coming back tonight."

I turned to put down my bag and took a deep breath. "I was supposed to play for another day, but I missed Jamie, so I came back."

In reality, I was worried about Vicente's ability to care for Jamie alone, so I'd asked Kinsley to help. Little did I know, they were using Jamie as a lookout for their affair.

Vicente emerged from the shower, his wet hair disheveled, water droplets trickling down his back onto the towel. He was stunned to see me and picked up a glass of water from the table. "You're back. Did you have fun?"

I ignored the impropriety of the way he dressed and replied calmly, "Yes."

In a panic, Kinsley kicked over the trash can, revealing used condoms.

She blanched and quickly squatted down to clean up the mess. "Patricia, since you're back, I'll leave now. I'll take out the trash for you."

Before I could speak, Jamie hugged Kinsley. "Don't go, Kinsley. I want to play with you more."