Nothing you say matters,” he spat, brushing past me toward the bedroom. He knocked his shoulder against mine, a deliberate physical slight. “I found someone who actually deserves to be with a man of my stature. Someone who isn’t…” He paused at the door, turning to look at me with a sneer that curdled my blood. “…beneath me.”

I pressed a hand to my chest, physically wounded by the words. “Beneath you? We took vows, Sterling.”

He laughed, a dry, bitter bark. “Vows? Look at yourself, Ramona. Really look. You come from the barrio. Your mother cleans houses. You have a community college degree that isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”