Kiana smiled politely.
“Hello, Ms. Mabel. Everything’s fine, thank you.”
“Well, I saw Darius leaving with bags yesterday. Did you two have a fight?”
There it is, Kiana thought, holding back a sigh.
The gossip would spread through the building at the speed of light.
“We’re getting divorced,” she said calmly. “We just didn’t work out.”
Ms. Mabel gasped.
“Oh my goodness, and I thought you two were such a strong couple. Young and attractive.”
“It happens,” Kiana shrugged. “It’s nothing terrible. Life goes on.”
She said goodbye and walked on, feeling the neighbor’s curious gaze on her back.
By evening, the entire apartment building would know that the Jenkinses were divorcing.
Let them.
She didn’t care.
That evening, she did go to Shauna’s place.
Her friend greeted her with open arms, sat her down in the cozy kitchen of her small ranch house, and brewed aromatic thyme tea.
“Tell me everything from the beginning,” Shauna demanded, settling down opposite her. “And don’t even think about holding anything back.”
Kiana told the story, detailing every event without rushing.
Shauna listened, mouth agape, and at the end simply shook her head.
“Wow, you’re such a star, Kiki. I would have screamed and called the police immediately. And you calculated everything so calmly and outmaneuvered them.”
“I didn’t outmaneuver them. I just took precautions.”
