Stop Tracking, Start Living

Caller ID: Julian. For the first time in our three years of marriage, I stared at the frantically strobing phone screen in the darkand pressed decline.

Fuck the endless interrogations. Fuck the cheap perfume lingering in his passenger seat and the hotel suite charges on the credit card statement.

I swiped on crimson lipstick, slipped into a champagne silk slip dress, and shoved open the heavy double doors of the Ritz-Carlton ballroom.

For three years, I tracked his phone location every day like a paranoid stalker.

Today, I'm taking my life back.

Chapter 1

The waiter pushed open the heavy doors to the penthouse ballroom. The cloying scent of champagne and the smooth rhythm of low-key jazz flooded over me instantly.

"Audrey." A deep, commanding voice cut straight through the noise of the room. I turned. The face looking back at me was both intimately familiar and strangely foreign.

Clark. My senior from college. The man Id secretly carried a torch for all four years.

"Clark?" I blinked, caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"

"Attending the gala." He wore a sharp, dark gray tailored suit. He carried a heavy, grounded authority that hadn't been there in college.

But those dark, piercing eyes were just as captivating as ever. "And you?"

"Just accompanying a friend."

"Is that right?" His gaze swept aggressively across my red lips before locking onto my eyes. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You're different from before."

"How so?"

"More beautiful." He didn't blink. He held my gaze dead-on, zero hesitation, zero teasing. He stated it like a cold fact.

My pulse kicked up a notch. It had been a long time since a man looked at me like that.

"You're flattering me." I lifted my champagne glass, using the crystal rim to hide the sudden heat in my cheeks.

"I heard you got married."

"Yeah. Three years now."

"Are you happy?"

The question hit me like a physical blow.

Happy? I couldn't form the words.

"I get by," I deflected.

Clark stared at me. A muscle feathered along his sharp jawline. "Audrey, let's take this to the terrace. It's too loud in here."

I hesitated for a split second, then gave a tight nod. I followed him out to the balcony. The night wind whipped past, carrying the sharp bite of early autumn.

"You're not doing well." Clark leaned against the railing, his dark eyes fixed on my face.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because of your eyes." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a gravelly murmur. "In college, you had fire in your eyes. But now, that fire is dying out."

Chapter 2

My throat tightened.

"Clark, how would you know how I'm doing?"

"Because I know you." He turned to fully face me. "Audrey, even though we haven't talked much since graduation, I never stopped paying attention.

I remember the exact way you laugh. I remember how your jaw sets when you're pissed off. I remember"

"Stop." I cut him off. "That's all in the past."

"Is it?" Clark took a slow step forward, instantly closing the distance between us. "If it's really just history, then why is your face flushed?"

My fingers brushed against my own cheek before I could stop myself. He was right; my skin was burning.

"I'm not"

"You are." His voice dropped to a rough whisper, but in the quiet of the night, it echoed loud and clear. "Audrey, you still feel it. You still feel something for me."

His words hit me straight in the chest, shattering whatever composure I had left.

"Clark, you're crossing a line." I turned to walk away, my expression turning to ice.

He grabbed my wrist, his palm burning hot against my skin. "I know exactly where the line is." His dark eyes locked onto mine. "Audrey, if you're miserable, why are you staying?"

"Because I'm married."

"And a ring means you're condemned to a lifetime of misery?"

I went dead silent.

It took a long moment before I finally found my voice. "Clark, you have no idea what my life is like."

"Then let me in." He didn't blink. "Audrey, I've been overseas all these years. I just got back to the States last month.

And before I even booked my flight, I was thinking about finding you. I needed to know if the girl who used to have a crush on me was actually living a good life."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

"You knew?"

"Of course I knew." Clark let out a low, breathy laugh. "You thought you hid it so well, but I caught every look, every little habit. I saw all of it."

"Then why didn't you"

"Why didn't I do anything about it?" He let out a heavy breath. "Because I was solely focused on getting my master's abroad. I didn't want to drag you down. I arrogantly assumed that when I came back, we'd still have time. I never expected"

"You never expected me to marry someone else," I finished for him.

"Yeah." His gaze darkened. "But Audrey, ring or no ring, I need you to hear this. All these years, I never stopped thinking about you."

The confession hit me like a freight train.

My brain short-circuited, leaving me speechless.

Right on cue, my phone started vibrating in my clutch. It was my husband. Julian.

Staring at his name glowing on the screen, a bitter wave of irony washed over me. In three years of marriage, he had never once called me before nine in the evening.

He always knew that at this exact time, I'd be sitting at home, waiting like a pathetic, loyal dog. But tonight, the one time I wasn't waiting by the door, his name lit up my phone. Coincidence? Or some sick twisted radar?

I swiped right to answer. "What."

"Where are you?" Julian's voice clipped through the speaker, dripping with obvious annoyance.

"Out with friends."

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know." I kept my tone deadpan. "What about you? How late are you working tonight?"

An unnatural silence stretched over the line, accompanied by the faint, undeniable sound of a woman's soft laugh. "I'm working on a major project. Don't wait up for me tonight."

"Right. Have fun working." I didn't wait for a response. I just ended the call.

It was the very first time I had ever hung up on him.

I shoved the phone back into my bag, only to find Clark watching my every move.

"Your husband?"

"Yeah."

"Does he know you're here?"

"He knows." I met his gaze, my voice turning to ice. "He just doesn't care."

Chapter 3

Clark stepped closer, his presence a solid, unyielding wall in front of me. "Audrey, give me a chance. Let me take care of you."

The words hit me right in the sternum, knocking the air out of my lungs.

My mind flashed back to my wedding day three years ago. Julian, looking devastatingly sharp in a white tailored tuxedo. He had held my hand tight, standing in front of everyone we knew, and promised, "I do."

I had been stupid enough to think that was our happily ever after. The reality? Less than six months in, his "late nights at the office" multiplied until he was barely coming home at all.

I used to try to fix it. I would spend hours carefully preparing his favorite dinners from scratch, only to sit alone at the table until the food went ice cold. And my reward? He would finally walk through the door, reeking of a cheap floral perfume that definitely wasn't mine, and dismiss me with a casual, "I already ate."

I used to practically beg him to communicate, desperately asking if he had fallen out of love with me. His only response was always a dismissive, "Stop being so paranoid."

I twisted myself into knots trying to be his perfect little wifewearing the designer clothes he liked, saying the exact things he wanted to hear. All it got me was a colder shoulder and more suffocating silence.

Eventually, I morphed into a paranoid stage-five clinger. Every single night, I was tracking his location, blowing up his phone, demanding to know where he was and exactly who he was with. He would snap at me with obvious disgust and hang up in my face.

I knew I was being pathetic, but my anxiety was a physical knot in my throat. I was terrified of losing him, terrified that someone else had already taken my place in his bed. That suffocating fear had kept me chained down.

Until today. The fog finally cleared. Instead of drowning in a dead marriage, it was time to cut the dead weight.

"Clark." I met his dark gaze. "Give me a little time. Let me clean up my own mess first, okay?"

Clark gave a slow nod. "Take your time. I'll be waiting." He pulled a sleek matte-black business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to me. "My private number. Call me whenever."

My palm prickled with heat the second my fingers brushed the cardstock.

By the time I unlocked my front door, it was past eleven.

The living room lights were blazing. Julian was sprawled on the Italian leather sofa, swirling a glass of Cabernet. He snapped his head up the second the door clicked shut.

"You're finally home."

"Yeah." I kicked off my stilettos and walked barefoot across the hardwood floor.

"Where the hell were you tonight?" His tone was sharp, laced with an interrogator's edge.

"I already told you. Out with friends." I dropped into the accent chair opposite him. "What, is that a crime now?"

"No." Julian glared at me over the rim of his glass. "But you could have given me a heads-up."

"Why would I need to clear my schedule with you?" I fired back. "Do you ever give me a heads-up when you're working late?"

A dark scowl deepened on Julian's face. "Audrey, what is your problem today?"

"Yeah, I'm done." I stared dead into his eyes, my voice completely flat, devoid of any warmth.

"Done tracking your GPS location, done choking on that sickening perfume embedded in your clothes, and absolutely done with this suffocating marriage."

The color drained from Julian's face. The wine glass in his hand froze mid-air. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said." I stood up, my spine completely straight. "Starting right now, I'm not checking your phone. I'm not waiting up. You can crawl back to this house at whatever hour you want, with whoever you want. I am done caring."

I snatched up his expensive silk tiethe one left draped over the armchair, reeking of another woman's essenceand dropped it straight into the trash can. I looked down at his utterly stunned face with cold satisfaction.

Then, without another word, I turned on my heel and headed for the master bedroom.

"Audrey!" Julian's voice cracked like a whip behind me.

I stopped, my hand hovering over the doorknob, but I didn't bother turning around.

"Are you seeing someone else?"

Chapter 4

A harsh, hollow laugh ripped out of my throat. It was so absurd my eyes actually stung.

"Julian, you do not get to ask me that." I spun back around, locking eyes with him. "For three years, you've treated this house like a hotel.

You constantly reek of perfume, and your phone is locked down tighter than a vault. I never once asked if you were screwing someone else. You have zero right to ask me."

Julian's face turned an ugly shade of gray. "I'm not."

"Really?" I closed the distance between us, my eyes ice-cold. "Then how do you explain the lace lingerie stuffed under your passenger seat? How do you explain the exorbitant hotel suite charges on your credit card statement every single month?"

Julian went dead silent.

His jaw worked for a long moment before he finally forced the words out. "Audrey, it's a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" I sneered. "Julian, you can play everyone else, but you can't play me. You haven't loved me for a single second of these three years, have you?"

"I"

"Save it." I cut him off. "I don't care to hear your excuses anyway. Julian, I want a divorce."

The air in the living room instantly turned to lead. Julian stared at me, his pupils contracting. "What did you just say?"

"I said, we're getting a divorce." I repeated the words with flatline calm. "This marriage is a rotting corpse. There's zero point in dragging it out."

"Audrey, have you lost your mind?" Julian shot up from the sofa. "You're throwing away our marriage over some petty bullshit?"

"Petty bullshit?" I stared at him. "Julian, is our entire marriage just 'petty bullshit' to you?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" I stepped into his space. "Do you love me? Do you give a damn about me?

Have you ever once thought about how it feels sitting in this empty house every single night, waiting for a husband who doesn't even want to come home?"

Julian opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Whatever." I turned my back on him and headed straight for the bedroom. "I'm meeting with a lawyer tomorrow to draw up the papers. You bought this house before we got married, so you keep it. I don't want a dime. I just want my freedom."

I walked into the master bedroom and slammed the door shut, twisting the deadbolt with a loud, final click.

First thing the next morning, I walked into the law firm.

The attorney assigned to me was a sharp, thirty-something woman named Maeve.

"Audrey, what exactly can I help you with today?"

"A divorce." I cut straight to the chase.

Maeve gave a curt nod and pulled a pristine legal pad toward her. "Could you give me a brief overview of your marital situation? Any children? How are we handling the division of assets?"

"Married for three years, zero kids," I stated flatly. "As for assets, the house and the cars are all under his name from before the wedding. I'm not fighting for any of it. I just want the papers signed as fast as humanly possible."

"Are you absolutely sure you don't want to pursue your share?" Maeve looked up, clearly surprised. "Legally speaking, even if the properties were purchased pre-marriage, you are entitled to half of the appreciated value accrued during the three years."

"No need." I shook my head. "I just want out."

Maeve studied my face, the tip of her pen tapping against the pad. "Audrey, forgive me for overstepping, but are you entirely certain? A divorce is a massive legal and personal step."

"I'm certain." My voice was rock solid. "This marriage is dead."

Chapter 5

"Alright." Maeve picked up her pen. "Then I need to get some specifics on the table. Has your husband agreed to the divorce?"

"I haven't brought it up with him yet."

"You'll need to communicate with him first. If he signs, we can fast-track an uncontested divorce and get it done quickly. If he fights it, we're looking at a drawn-out litigation process."

"Understood."

Stepping out of the law firm, I shot Julian a quick text. "Come home tonight. We need to talk."

A minute later, a single-word reply popped up. "Okay."

Julian walked through the front door at exactly seven o'clock. It was the first time in three years he had been home this early.

"What did you want to talk about?" He shrugged off his tailored suit jacket and dropped onto the sofa.

I pulled the divorce papers Maeve had drawn up and tossed them onto the glass coffee table. "Sign them."

Julian glanced down at the documents. The color instantly drained from his face, his expression turning thunderous. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious." I met his gaze. "Julian, let's stop wasting each other's time."

"Wasting time?" Julian let out a harsh, cold laugh. "Audrey, do you have any idea how much I've sacrificed for this marriage?"

"Sacrificed?" I mirrored his laugh, but with pure venom. "Julian, what exactly did you sacrifice? Money?

You bought this house before we even met, and I haven't spent a single dime of your cash. Or was it time? You treat this place like a hotel. How much time have you actually given us?"

"I bust my ass working out there to give you a better life!"

"A better life?" I shook my head slowly. "Julian, I never asked for luxury. I wanted a real home. I wanted a husband who actually loved me. And you couldn't deliver on either."

Julian went silent. When he finally spoke, his voice was tight. "Audrey, are you seeing someone else?"

There was that pathetic question again.

"Julian, I already told you, you don't get to ask me that," I fired back. "And even if I was, so what? You're doing the exact same thing."

"I am not!" Julian suddenly raised his voice.

"Oh, really?" I stepped right up to him, staring down at him with absolute disgust. "Then explain to me why your secretary was wearing your dress shirt in your office.

Explain why you two booked a single room on your business trips. Explain all the explicit garbage in your chat history."

Julian's face completely changed. "You went through my phone