A Parting Gift of Forged Records

On our tenth wedding anniversary, my husband, Julian Croft, moved his terminally ill first love, Chloe Reed, into our Upper East Side penthouse apartment under the guise of a "private nurse," despite my objections.

Julian accused me of being cold-hearted and cruel. "Ava, you're not worth a single hair on Chloe's head!"

My own son, Caleb, sided with them, threatening to cut me out of his life if I didn't let Chloe move in.

Something inside me snapped. I would get a divorce and return to the world of architecture.

But when that father and son saw the forged medical records, they were drowned in regret.

"Ava, she tricked me! You're the one I've always loved!"

"Mom, are you abandoning me? I'm your only son!"

I didn't waste a single glance on them.

Who were these pathetic fools blocking my path? I had a Pritzker Prize to accept.

...

————————

————————

1

"Chloe's condition is critical. I've decided to bring her home so I can take care of her personally."

I stared down at the diagnosis of late-stage pancreatic cancer.

This was Julian's tenth-anniversary gift to me.

Seeing the dark expression on my face, Chloe Reed leaned against him, her voice a fragile whisper that threatened to break at any moment. "Julian, maybe this is a bad idea. I don't think Ava wants me here."

"Besides, I'm going to die soon. You shouldn't be going to all this trouble for me."

"Chloe, don't be silly. You're going to get better," Julian soothed her.

Then, he whirled on me and roared, "Ava Monroe, have you no heart!"

"She's a sick woman, and you can't even tolerate her? What kind of example are you setting for Caleb, being so heartless?"

At his father's command, Caleb immediately started shoving my legs.

"You're horrible! If you don't let her stay, I don't want you as my mom anymore!"

The anniversary dinner I had so carefully prepared grew cold on the table, my heart turning to ice along with it.

Two faces, one large and one small, both strikingly similar, stared me down with righteous indignation.

One was the husband I had loved for ten years, the other the son I had raised for nine.

On all those countless nights Julian didn't come home, claiming he was working late, Caleb was the last thread of hope I clung to.

There was a time when he would clutch my hand and sweetly call me "Mom."

But now, for another woman, he was threatening to disown me.

In an instant, a wave of disappointment washed away all my anger.

A bitter smile formed on my lips as I turned back toward my room.

But Julian blocked my way. "Ava, Chloe is a patient. Let her have the master bedroom."

"Pack your things and move into the study. Now."

I took a deep breath, walked straight into the room, and with trembling hands, dialed a number I knew by heart.

"Regina, I'm ready to come back."

The voice on the other end was ecstatic. "Really? Ava, you've finally seen the light!"

"When you gave up the partnership at the firm for your family, it was the architectural world's loss! I'll get everything set up immediately!"

I let out a bitter laugh and booked a flight to Chicago for the next month.

After hanging up, I opened Instagram. As I scrolled through my feed, an update from Julian's profile caught my eye.

His username was "JCroftNYC."

I once thought it stood for Julian Croft's home in New York City.

It wasn't until Chloe Reed stood before me that I understood the "C" was never for Croft. It was for Chloe.

The post was a photo from that afternoon: him and our son, skating with Chloe at Rockefeller Center.

The caption read:

【A new beginning.】

But that father and son duo usually hated crowded tourist traps like that.

Chloe's blindingly radiant smile was like a needle in my eye.

It turned out they didn't hate those places; they just hated going there with me.

A friend had commented below:

【Julian, aren't you afraid Ava will leave you for doing this?】

Julian had replied with only three words.

【She wouldn't dare.】

Yes, I wouldn't dare.

Back then, I had believed Julian's nonsense about loving me forever and had walked away from my burgeoning career without a second thought.

I had been a stay-at-home mom for ten years.

Now, besides my husband and son, I had nothing.

My head was spinning when Julian walked in and handed me a takeout box.

"Here. I remembered you like lobster pasta."

The pasta was cold, the sauce already congealed. It looked like leftovers.

What was this? Charity? Chloe's leftovers?

I raised my hand and scraped the pasta straight into the trash.