“I need you to draft divorce papers,” I said evenly.
Sarah initially assumed illness and anger were driving me.
Then I put my tablet on her desk and showed her the timeline, system logs, and protocol.
I wasn’t interested in revenge or taking Marcus’s assets. We had no children. I proposed dividing the equity in our marital home equally while keeping our individual accounts, cars, and personal belongings separate.
That afternoon, I returned to the brownstone.
I packed two suitcases with clothes, degrees, and books.
Before leaving, I placed my wedding ring on top of my hospital discharge summary on the dining table.
I rented a furnished short-term apartment in Gold Coast, changed my number, and directed all communication through Sarah.
Two weeks later, Marcus was attending a catered reception in the hospital’s twelfth-floor conference center to celebrate the project’s completion when a process server entered carrying a manila envelope.
“Dr. Marcus Hayes? Personal service.”