I called out to him. In the instant before he shut the door, I snatched the fruit knife from the table and lunged, aiming to bury it in his body. He caught my wrist first, and threw me to the ground.
"Louisa."
Justin looked down at me with something close to disgust.
"You're out of your mind."
The door closed.
He didn't look back.
The living room went quiet. Horribly quiet.
I remembered the first time Justin sat me down to negotiate. This same living room. This same couch. He'd been turning his wedding ring between his fingers, a trace of guilt still in his eyes, trying to explain.
"Odette isn't like other women."
"She's straightforward." He looked at me, freshly discharged from the hospital after the miscarriage, still too weak to sit up straight, and praised his mistress without a second's hesitation. "She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Everything she said to you was just because she loves me too much."
"Don't hold it against her."
"Louisa."
He placed the divorce papers on the table.
"I've thought about this for a long time, and I still want to end things between us. I want Odette to be able to stand in the light. I don't want people whispering about her behind her back."