You Were Just Passing Through My Life

When he saw me, he stopped for half a second, then let out a thin laugh.

"You really have to make a scene with me?"

I said nothing.

I lifted my numb arm and held the papers out to him.

"Sign."

Finn stared at me for a full ten seconds, then he smiled.

"Fine. Wait here."

He carried the woman into the villa.

I waited from dawn until dark.

Then from dark until dawn again.

He never came.

Not until the sunlight stabbed at my eyes, too bright to keep them open.

Finn finally walked out, leading the girl by the hand.

And I finally got a clear look at her face.

A face full of collagen, dressed in the newest couture, hair in a high ponytail. When she smiled, the dimples gave her away no matter how she tried to hide them.

Finn turned his head to talk to her.

That gentle look on him. I'd seen it before, once.

My eyes stung.

But not a single tear would fall.

He led her forward, and then he saw me.

As if he couldn't believe I was still standing there.

When the girl saw me, she covered her lips, startled.

She grabbed Finn's hand, and the tears came on command.

"Finn, it's all my fault."

"If I hadn't clung to you in bed yesterday and kept you, your wife wouldn't have stood out here all night waiting for you."

Pain rose in Finn's eyes at once. He wiped her tears away.

His voice was pure indulgence. "My little crybaby, this isn't your fault. You just cry so prettily that I couldn't bear to stop."

And he bent down and kissed her forehead.

I pressed my lips together.

Just as I started to turn my head away,

Finn tipped his chin at me.

"Didn't you want a divorce? Get in. We'll go to my office and I'll talk terms with you."

I didn't refuse.

I stepped up and pulled open the passenger door.

The moment I started to climb in, someone yanked my arm hard.

"The front seat in this car is Sara's."

"You sit in the back."

Finn helped the girl in, shielding her.

I'd stood all night.

My legs had long gone numb.

With that one jerk of his hand,

I stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground.

My knee came down on a stone and started bleeding.

The pain made me suck in a breath.

I looked up.

At some point Finn had already gotten into the car.

He was buckling that girl's seatbelt for her.

I forced myself up through the pain and got into the back.

The whole drive, the two of them up front were all over each other.

I said nothing, just looked out the window.

In the office,

Finn set the papers down in front of me.

"I'll only give you the house. Don't think you'll get a single cent of anything else."

"All these years, all you did was sit behind me. You're nothing, so I won't give you anything."

"So, Stephanie, think it over carefully. Are we really getting divorced or not."

"Leave me and you'll never live this well again."

"And you'll never meet another man like me."

"And me? Women lining up one after another, more than I can count, mine to pick from. And you? Off to be some kid's stepmother, where everyone will—"

"Fine."

I cut him off.

I didn't want to hear any more.

Finn froze.

I picked up the pen without looking and flipped to the last page.

The tip had barely touched the paper.

"Stephanie!"

He slammed his hand down on the paper, his face dark. "I'll give you one more chance. Think it over. You really want this divorce?"

"Yes."

I smiled and brushed his hand aside.

"I want the divorce."

I signed cleanly.

I handed it back to him.

"You sign too."

Finn's face got uglier and uglier.

"Stephanie, it's such a small thing, do you really have to—"

"Finn."

My voice shot up out of nowhere, and every grievance I'd buried in my heart broke loose all at once.