Seven-Year Itch: Divorce Denied

Anna Reed has spent seven years with Alexis Medlock, a campus romance so famous that a university junior seeks her out for an interview. Asked whether the two are still in love, Anna answers plainly: they are divorcing. The truth surfaced only two weeks earlier, when a small argument revealed that Alexis had quietly stopped caring.

During a bout of seasonal illness, Anna finds her medicine drawer empty. Too dizzy to leave her bed, she asks Alexis to bring a box home; he returns hours later empty-handed and turns on her, calling her incapable and inconsiderate. When she tries to ask him to call for help, he cuts her off and leaves for the office. She dials the number herself before losing consciousness, and wakes two days later to no message from him.

Following Alexis at the hospital, Anna finds him tending a young woman with pigtails, his voice impossibly gentle. He calls her his apprentice and drags Anna out for making a scene, showing only impatience. When appendicitis later requires a family signature, Anna calls him again, and he says he is on his way.