Justin Fletcher gripped the heavy wedding invitation between his fingers and smiled with the kind of malice usually reserved for a courtroom victory. It was not the expression of a man excited to see his family or celebrate his cousin Paige, whose name was embossed in gold across the expensive cardstock.
He was sitting in his car outside a coffee shop in a busy part of Phoenix, watching the heat waves shimmer off the asphalt of the parking lot. One hand rested on the steering wheel while the other held the invitation up against the harsh Arizona sunlight.
Justin did not notice the delivery truck blocking the lane or the tourists arguing over a map near a dusty palm tree. He was busy picturing his ex wife, Cassidy, and he was imagining her exactly as he needed her to be for his plan to work.
He wanted her to look exhausted and defeated so that everyone would see that leaving her had been his best executive decision. He pictured her arriving at the wedding in a simple dress with their twin boys clinging to her hands while her hair remained unstyled from a lack of time.