The other day rumors popped up that Jay Z was cheating on Beyonce with Rihanna, and now the New York Post is reporting that Queen Bey was checking out a $21.5 million Chelsea penthouse early last month -- all by herself! Could it be possible that the Grammy winner and her famous hubby are actually on the verge of separating?!

Several weeks after Elevatorgate went down, Beyonce checked out the 4,045-square-foot West 19th Street pad, and a source tells the Post, “She was very quiet, as if she was looking on the sly.” Jay Z's absence was odd, as he's usually hands-on with the couple's real estate acquisitions, and the insider noted, "there’s no way a $20? million apartment is for her mother or her sister. That would be wildly unlikely."

The source added, "it would seem clear the new home is for Beyonce and their 2-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy," and that Jay is clearly "not downsizing" from the couple's current 8,309-square-foot Tribeca crib. Say it ain't so!

So what about these allegations that Rihanna has come between the couple? When Bey's sister Solange unleashed a smackdown on Jay Z in an elevator after the Met Gala in May, a source tells the Post that it was because Jay planned to meet the R&B bad girl later that night at his 40/40 club. “Solange was like, ‘Enough is enough — you must be [screwing] Rihanna,’” a source tells the paper. “To many people who know them, they know it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”

But if Beyonce moves out, what's next? “There’s still something there, even though it’s not going to last,” the source continues. “Business is always part of the equation. They know they’re the king and queen of hip-hop — and really, all of music. Neither wants to lose that.” And um, let's keep in mind they have a kid too!