“Michael…you need to see this.” My phone lit up at 3 a.m., 7,000 miles from Chicago. I stared at the photo of Jessica, my ex-wife, in a wedding dress…next to Brandon Caldwell. My voice caught: “She married him? Already?” I felt every second of eight years crumble. And then Ryan whispered, “It didn’t last four hours.”
The WhatsApp notification woke me at 3:00 a.m. Dubai time. I was 7,000 miles from Chicago, sitting on the balcony of my apartment in Dubai Marina, watching container ships drift across the Persian Gulf like glowing cities. The message was from my brother, Ryan. You need to see this. Attached was a photo of Jessica…