Chapter 1

Forty years of marriage. The day I got my cancer diagnosis, my husband took our son and my best friend to the symphony.

My best friend was wearing the diamond ring I'd waited forty years for. She pressed a hand to her mouth and laughed softly. "Richard, if Josephine knew you brought me to Carnegie Hall tonight, she'd be crushed. She's been dreaming about this for forty years."

Richard's lip curled. "That woman belongs at the kitchen sink. Bringing her here would be a waste. She wouldn't understand a single note."

Our son — the son I'd raised with my own blood and bones — laughed along like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

I crushed the cancer report in my fist. Forty years of sacrifice, and not a single one of them had noticed.

Then it was time, I thought. Time to reach for the life that should have been mine.