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For tomorrow, I’d planned something bigger. It was Friday evening, and the twins were having another sleepover at my brother’s house. The timing was perfect.
My day was even longer than Allison’s. By the time I arrived home, she and the twins had already eaten dinner. In fact, they were already upstairs.
I took off my shoes and went right up the staircase, hovering in the doorway of their bedroom. Allison stood between their beds, instructing them to get under their blankets so she could read them their bedtime story.
“Hey! Congratulations,” I told her.
She gave me a small smile. “Thanks. I still haven’t processed it.”
I kissed her cheek and then whispered in her ear, “Well, we can certainly process it after these two are asleep.”
Allison nodded, but as I pulled back, I realized she was averting her gaze. Maybe she was just shy. I should have more self-restraint when we were around the kids.
I went to each of them, kissing their forehead. “Sorry I’m so late, guys.”
“That’s okay. Auntie Allison is gonna read our story tonight.”
I looked over my shoulder at Allison. “Do you need me to do anything? If not, I can just wait for you downstairs.”
Allison nodded. Something was off. “We’ll catch up later, after I wrestle these two to sleep.”
“What’s wrestle?” Annie asked.
Allison laughed, but she still wasn’t looking at me. Strange. Then again, we’d both had a long day.
I headed back down the stairs, opening the fridge and rummaging through it. Finding some leftovers, I heated them up and ate while sending some emails I’d put off all day. I set a bottle of champagne in the fridge too. This wasn’t the one I’d planned to open for this occasion—I’d bought a Dom Perignon back when Allison and I decided to go forward with our plan—but it was back at the penthouse. This one would do for now.
After I finished dinner, I noted that it was already very late, and Allison hadn’t come down. Did the twins not want to go to bed?
I headed upstairs and listened intently, but it was completely silent. As I opened the door, I almost chuckled but stopped myself in time. Allison had fallen asleep in Annie’s bed. She must have been exhausted. Only one of her legs was covered, so I went to the master bedroom and grabbed a spare blanket from the dresser, putting it on her. It didn’t make sense to wake her up.
Annie was nestled right under her arm. Allison had put her hand protectively on Annie’s shoulder. I watched them for a split second before closing the door and heading back downstairs. I was certain Allison would join me eventually.
Only she didn’t. When I woke up the next morning, I realized I’d slept alone. I glanced at the clock and groaned. I’d overslept too. It was already eight thirty.
I hurriedly took a shower and dressed before going downstairs to drink coffee. As I took the first sip, I noticed a stack of documents behind the toaster. That was strange. Allisonnever brought physical documents home. Had she forgotten to take them with her to work today?
I pulled them out and did a double take when I saw they were divorce papers.What the hell?
Putting down my coffee cup, I quickly scrambled through the pages. It was the same thing Hugo sent us months ago. Why would she have it here?
I frowned and immediately called Hugo.
“Hey,” I said.
“Morning, Nick.”
“Question: yesterday, when Allison was in your office, did you discuss anything besides the custody?”
“The divorce.”
I exhaled sharply, leaning against the counter. “What exactly did you discuss?”
“I told her that the papers are ready to sign. She took the stack with her.”
Fucking hell.I closed my eyes, opening them again. I’d completely forgotten about the divorce.
“Do you have any questions? Did you manage to talk about it?”