He Gave His Female Best Friend My 5th Anniversary Trip, Then Bet I Wouldn't Leave novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Free Cancellation

A lawyer promises a petition by five, and Leah cancels the suite, the upgrades, the airport car and every dinner before the window closes at four. At 4:02 Derek calls: the hotel says the reservation is gone.

The moment Derek's car turned the corner, I walked into my study and made a phone call.

The lawyer was a family attorney who had handled a coworker's divorce last year.

I had saved her number in my phone then without knowing why.

"I need to file for divorce," I told her. "Can you have the papers ready tonight?"

"Tonight?" she said. "Tell me what you have."

"Our townhouse lease ends next month. Our salaries go into separate accounts. The only shared money is twenty-two thousand dollars in our house-and-baby savings fund."

Eighteen thousand of it was mine, from two years of quarterly bonuses.

I had set it aside for fertility treatments and a down payment on a house with a yard.

"Don't move any money out of the joint account yet," the lawyer said. "Leave it untouched, so he can't say you emptied marital funds before filing. I'll have the petition ready by five."

"Thank you. My sister has a room for me. I'm leaving tomorrow at six in the morning."

"Tomorrow at six," she repeated. "Good. Bring a photo ID and the lease."

After I hung up, I sat at my desk and opened the Cabo folder on my laptop.

When we started planning the trip three months ago, Derek had used his airline miles to book the basic flights.

I had paid for everything else.

The oceanfront suite, the first-class upgrades, the private airport car and the anniversary dinners were all on my personal credit card.

I had bought travel protection back when my work schedule was uncertain.

Free cancellation stayed open until four o'clock that afternoon.

It was ten past one.

I put my hand flat on my stomach.

"Okay," I said to nobody. "Let's start."

I called the resort first.

The woman who answered had a sweet voice and a lot of patience.

"I see a five-night oceanfront suite for two adults," she said. "Is there a change to the guests?"

"There's a change to everything," I said. "I'd like to cancel."

"Oh, no. Is this for your anniversary? It says here Sunday is your fifth."

I looked at the printed schedule on my desk.

Sunday night had a candle drawn next to it, in my handwriting.

"It was," I said. "Cancel all of it, please."

She clicked for a long moment.

"Done. The full refund goes back to the card ending in 4417."

That was my card.

Next I called the airline to remove my first-class upgrades.

They had been the most expensive part, and I had paid for them in overtime.

The agent explained that the base tickets, bought with Derek's miles, were his to change, and the upgrades were mine to cancel.

I did not touch his tickets.

I did not touch Taryn's name on mine.

I only took back the upgrades, one seat at a time.

Then I cancelled the private airport car.

Then the sunset tour, booked for two.

Then the cliffside dinner on Sunday, booked for two.

Then the spa afternoon I had picked because Derek liked the sound of it.

Each call ended the same way.

A polite voice asked whether I wanted to rebook for another date, and I said no.

By three-thirty the folder on my laptop held nothing but confirmation emails with the word CANCELLED in red.

Seven refunds were pending, and every one of them was headed back to my card.

At two minutes to four, I clicked the final cancel and watched the screen turn gray.

Then I went to the front closet.

The silver suitcase was still beside the coat rack, where I had pulled it back that morning.

I laid it on the bed and began packing the things that were mine.

My work clothes went in first.

Then the folder from the clinic, wrapped in a scarf.

Then the small cream socks, which I put inside the shoe I wore least.

My phone lit up on the dresser at two minutes past four.

It was Derek.

I let it ring four times before I answered.

"Leah, what the hell?" he said, and the warm voice was gone. "The resort just emailed me. They say the reservation is cancelled."

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