TOWARD THE DISTANCE Chapter 7

The messages kept coming.

【Lily: By the way, look at this. [IMAGE] This is my ultrasound. I'm pregnant.】

Elena enlarged the image. At the very top of the scan, in small clinical text, the words read:

EMBRYO: 8 WEEKS. THREATENED MISCARRIAGE.

【Lily: We were so wild on the rooftop yesterday. All kinds of positions. I think that's why the baby is a little unstable. Haha, it's his fault — he said being with me is so much more exciting than being with you at home. Said you were like a dead fish. 😂】

【Lily: The doctor says whether we keep it or not, the father has to sign the paperwork. So I had to call him down. I mean — compared to your little stomach ache, his baby is a little more important, don't you think? 😊】

Elena called a taxi. She didn't look back at the hospital.

She went straight to a law firm.

"I'd like to hire you to draft a divorce agreement," she told the first lawyer she saw.

She didn't ask for anything. Not the house, not money, not a single piece of what Cade had built. The lawyer drew up the paperwork in under an hour — clean, thorough, airtight.

"You don't need his signature," the lawyer told her. "If you two are separated for two years, this agreement becomes legally binding on its own. The court will recognize it as grounds for divorce."

Elena took the paperwork and walked out into the afternoon sun.

Cade called her the moment she stepped outside.

"Elena, where are you? I've been looking everywhere in the hospital —"

"I got tired of waiting. I went home."

"Okay. That's fine. Just stay safe." A pause. "Listen — I have to go out of town for a few days. Work stuff. I'm sorry. I know I promised, but… next week. Next week I'll clear everything. Just for you."

Elena let out a long breath.

"Sure," she said. "Go."

"My girl is so understanding. I'll bring you lilies when I get back."

"Understanding?" Elena repeated. "Cade — do you think you like women who are sweet and clingy? Who wrap themselves around you and won't let go? Am I too boring because I don't do that?"

Cade paused. "What are you talking about? I love you exactly the way you are. Whatever you are, that's what I want."

"Cade. Would you ever fall in love with someone else?"

"Never."

"If you did — if you changed your mind about me — I would leave you. Forever."

Cade laughed softly. "Then run. I dare you. I'll shut down every airport, every train station. As long as you're still Elena, there is nowhere on this earth you can hide from me."

But my passport doesn't say Elena anymore.

It says Wren Faraway.

Elena smiled to herself — a real smile, cold and quiet. "I'm serious, Cade. I have a way out. And if I use it, you won't find me."

"Sure," he said, still laughing, still treating this like a game. "Try it. I'll give you a three-day head start. Then I come looking. I told you — as long as you're Elena, you can't escape me."

Can't escape?

Let's see about that.