Chapter 3 - The Garbage BagsI didn't cry that night. Crying requires a sense of loss, and you cannot mourn the loss of something you just realized was entirely fake.
Instead, I went to the kitchen and poured a glass of the expensive Cabernet Julian had bought for our anniversary. I drank it while I walked through the house, collecting heavy-duty black trash bags from beneath the sink.
I started in the master closet.
Julian loved his clothes. He had custom Italian suits, cashmere sweaters, and hundreds of silk ties. I didn't fold them. I ripped them off the hangers, shoving them into the bags with methodical, brutal efficiency. I cleared out his bathroom vanity, tossing his $80 cologne bottles in with his electric razors and shaving cream.
By 2:00 a.m., there were fourteen bloated black bags sitting by the front door.
My phone had been buzzing nonstop. Julian had left twenty-six voicemails. I didn't listen to a single one.
I dragged the bags out the front door, lining them up neatly on the edge of the perfectly manicured lawn. The lawn that Julian paid a landscaping service $400 a month to maintain because he "valued appearances."
At 2:30 a.m., a rideshare car pulled up to the curb. Julian stepped out, wearing a pair of borrowed sweatpants and a hoodie. He looked exhausted, defeated, and desperate. He saw the bags on the lawn and rushed to the front door, jiggling the handle.
I had already rekeyed the smart locks from my phone.
He knocked, softly at first, then harder. "Elena. Please. Just let me in. Let's talk about this."
I opened the door, leaving the heavy steel security chain attached. I looked at him through the three-inch gap.
"Your things are on the grass," I said.
"Elena, you can't do this. My name is on the mortgage too. This is my house."
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"Actually, Julian," I smiled thinly. "I paid the down payment with my inheritance, and the deed is in the name of an LLC I control. You just pay the utility bills. And considering you don't live here anymore, I'll be taking over the electric."
I shut the door in his face and engaged the deadbolt. As I walked back upstairs, I opened my phone and manually activated the front lawn sprinkler system.
