There was no explanation.

There was no softening of his tone just because his infant son was sleeping soundly against my chest.

He simply stood there in the cold morning light, expecting me to fall apart, completely unaware that he had just handed me the exact cue I had been waiting for.

I did not shed a single tear, and I did not beg him to stay. Instead, I carefully turned off the burner on the stove, set the pan aside, and walked into the bedroom to pack a single suitcase. Mark watched me leave the driveway with our son, a smug look on his face because he honestly believed I had absolutely nothing to my name. He had completely forgotten who I was, and exactly what kind of work I did, before I ever became his wife.