Chapter 3

Suddenly, everything felt so ridiculous.

When Lily was one, Zach set up a trust fund for her, saying she could use it when she turned eighteen.

A few days ago, I checked the account. The money had been cleaned out long ago.

When did he stop caring about me? When did he stop caring about our daughter?

At 8:00 PM, Zach still wasn't home.

He sounded excited on the phone. "What are the odds! The seafood place Maya wanted to try finally had an opening! I invited Carter and the guys out. I won't be home tonight!"

I looked at the cold dinner on the table.

The ice cream cake had already melted into a sticky puddle.

"But you promised..."

He hung up.

A text popped up: "It's too loud here. I'll head back after dinner. You and Lily go to sleep."

My fingers hovered over the screen, but I didn't have the energy to type.

After a long moment, I opened Instagram.

The top post was a video of Zach putting food on Maya’s plate.

Maya's caption read: *“All these years, and you still remember what I like to eat.”*

Zach’s voice in the video was clear: *“Of course. How could I ever forget anything about you?”*

I closed my eyes. My phone vibrated with a new email.

*“Hello Mrs. Miller, your divorce petition has been finalized and sent to your address.”*

I stood up and scraped the dinner and the melted cake into the trash.

I had wanted to give Lily a proper birthday celebration tonight.

Now, the "Happy Birthday" chocolate plaque was melted and distorted, looking incredibly ugly.

The cake couldn't wait for him.

And Lily and I didn't want to wait anymore, either.

Zach didn't get back until midnight.

"You're still awake? Sorry, I forgot to bring you some cake. But Maya made some homemade cookies for Lily to apologize."

I took one look at the box. They were peanut butter cookies.

"You eat them," I said.

"Chloe, seriously? There's a limit to your tantrums. Maya went out of her way to—"

"Lily is allergic to peanuts."

He froze.

"Since when?"

"Since she was born."

His tone turned defensive. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Maya made these specifically for Lily. You're wasting her sweet gesture!"