Immediate Reckoning

Douglas's alarm went off. It was 5 a.m. He stretched. It took a moment, as it had the past three days, to realize he wasn't at home. He was in his office, on the couch.

It was still hard to believe he'd done it -- he'd actually destroyed his marriage to elevate Antoine. He didn't dare check in at home. And Faith, guilty for her role in it and convinced the **** was solely responsible, was also avoiding him.

He showered in his personal bathroom, then got dressed. At 9 a.m., his secretary dialed in, as the Monday crush of work started.

"Umm, Mr. Lancaster, there is a process server here," she said tentatively. He told her to let the server in. Elizabeth had filed for divorce.

***

For her part, the past three days had been miserable for Elizabeth. Her marriage had ended on Friday. On Saturday, she'd given birth. They'd planned to name the child Evelyn, after Douglas's mother. But after what happened, she'd decided to name the baby Kaitlyn instead. She stroked Katie's cheek as the baby napped against her.

Her friend Julia and Julia's husband Tom had come over the night that Douglas had cheated to help watch the twins. Elizabeth had given birth with Antoine beside her, and she was grateful for the support he'd given her throughout the weekend. But she found she needed space, and she was even more grateful that Antoine was so understanding in her time of turmoil.

Monday morning she'd awoken especially early, and went down to the law offices of Saul Abrams, a local family attorney. Given their extensive assets, Saul thought it prudent to get the divorce filed immediately. Scorned as she was, Elizabeth agreed.