Page 19 of My Only

I wasn’t sure what the fuck was right anymore.

I leaned my forehead into my palm, my fingers scratching my fresh lineup. I was feeling a headache coming on.

It was too damn early for this.

Then again, last night had bled into this morning, and last night was the worst night of my life.

Through the glass walls of my office, I could see everything—architects hunched over sketches, project managers on their office phones, people moving in and out of meetings.

The Greene Gardens Project was the largest project of my career.

Since graduating college, every job I took on had felt big, until a bigger one came along.

The project before this one had been the biggest yet—a renovation of a restaurant in a Black-owned luxury hotel in Tribeca: The St. James.

It was that work—the one that challenged me the most—that got me the recommendation I needed to land Greene Gardens.

I thought this project was the best thing to ever happen to me.

The best thing to ever happen for me and my wife.

But lately?

Shit... I didn’t know anymore.

My eyes burned, and I was sure they were red—not just from lack of sleep, but from the weight of last night.

From the weight of her words.

Ayla told me she wanted a divorce.

I grunted, pressing my head against the back of my chair.

Every time I replayed her words, my chest tightened, my heart twisting in a vice-like grip.

She didn’t say it just because she was angry about me coming home late.

She meant that shit.

Every single word.

And that nasty fucking word…

Divorce.

The headache that had been threatening me all morning finally settled in, an uninvited guest sitting with me in my office, in my chair.

I rubbed my temples, trying to force myself into work mode.

Then, I heard the sound of my door pushing open.

“Good morning.”

My body went rigid as soon as I heard her voice.

My eyes dropped first to her hips as they swayed in perfect rhythm, her navy-blue pencil skirt hugging her curves as she strode toward me.

The higher my gaze traveled, the more my teeth clenched.

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