Amber's brows furrowed, a deep line etched between them. She hadn't stopped frowning for months now, but tonight her face seemed carved from stone. She tightened her shawl around her shoulders, taking shallow breaths to keep the nausea at bay. Calvin knew she despised alcohol and smoke, but he never cared enough to stop. Time and again, he came home like this—reeking, rambling and inconsiderate—leaving her to clean up both the physical mess and the emotional wreckage he left in his wake.
Through bleary, unfocused eyes, Calvin spotted her standing in the doorway. His lips twisted into a pained smile as he staggered toward her. "Amber... Iris is sick again. What should I do?" he slurred, his voice rough and pleading. He collapsed onto the couch and instinctively buried his head against her abdomen, his warmth seeping through the soft fabric of her nightgown.
It wasn't the first time Calvin had sought comfort in this peculiar way, as though her presence alone could ground him, soothe the chaos in his soul. Yet Amber's hands clenched tightly around the divorce agreement.
She stiffened, her expression cold as stone. Refusing to meet his bloodshot eyes, she stared past him, fixating on the mantel clock ticking steadily. She believed—hoped, even—that avoiding his gaze might numb the ache in her chest.
Iris. Always Iris.
Iris, the fragile, porcelain doll of Calvin's past, his childhood sweetheart who could do no wrong. Her battle with depression made her delicate and untouchable, a woman Calvin felt both bound to and obsessed with. She had known him for a decade longer than Amber had and a tragic car accident from their youth—one where Iris had saved his life—cemented her place as his everything. To everyone in Newark's elite circles, Iris wasn't just Calvin's Achilles' heel; she was his entire heart.
But Iris saw Calvin only as an older brother. She never reciprocated the intense, tangled feelings he harbored for her. Even their marriage—Calvin and Amber's—had to remain a carefully guarded secret, all to spare Iris any distress.
So, Calvin also had someone he loved but couldn't have. Amber didn't know if she was envious, jealous, or hateful. Looking at the drunken man before her, she let out a cold laugh and mercilessly pushed his fuzzy head away. She coaxed him into signing the divorce papers.