In the woman who used to curl up in his arms like home.
That phone call hadn’t just shifted something in their marriage. It cracked the mirror he’d been looking in for years.
And every version of himself since then—husband, father, provider, liar—had felt a little less whole. There was no way to rewrite the past. No way to undo what was already lost.
But maybe, just maybe…
Adair could still figure out how to be the kind of man she didn’t regret choosing—even if she never chose him again.
THE DISTURBANCE THAT COULD NO LONGER BE IGNORED.
NEW YORK. TWO YEARS LATER…
It was a Tuesday.
Sabine packed a quick lunch, braided Ade’s hair neat, and decided—on a whim—that they’d surprise Adair at work. He hadn’t been eating like he should lately, always skipping lunch, always claiming he was too busy…and…she missed him. Genuinely missed him. Their counselor had encouraged these small moments of presence, and Sabine was trying. God knows she’d been trying.
The firm’s receptionist lit up when she walked in. “He’s in a meeting,” she whispered, smiling at Ade. “But it should be wrapping up.”
Sabine nodded and waited. Held her son’s hand. Watched him wobble a little on his feet in his tiny sneakers. When the glass conference room door finally opened, she smiled—wide and full of warmth—as Adair laughed at something one of his partners said, the sound catching in his throat when he saw them.
“Look who came to see me,” he beamed, crossing the lobby to scoop Ade up.
“Brought lunch.” Sabine held up the bag. “Figured you could use a little fuel.”
Adair kissed her cheek and squeezed her waist. It was sweet. Whole. The kind of moment she’d spent years hoping they could return to. The kind of moment that should’ve filled her.
But it was what she saw over his shoulder that stole the moment.
Corrine.
Standing by the elevator. Not leaving. Not working. Just…watching.
It was resentment.
Entitlement.
Like Sabine was the one intruding. Like the sight of Adair with his wife and child was offensive. Like she belonged in that picture instead. Corrine didn’t smile. Didn’t nod. Just turned her head slowly and walked away as if the whole thing left a bad taste in her mouth.
Sabine’s stomach flipped.
The moment passed but it clung to her all day. Even back home, while folding laundry. Even after Ade went down for his nap and the house fell quiet.
That look.
That unspoken claim.
Sabine couldn’t stop seeing it. Couldn’t stop feeling the slow, thick knot return to her gut. The one she thought she’d buried. The one that whispered questions in the back of her mind. She had never felt settled with the story Adair gave her but she accepted it. Not because she believed it?—
Because believing anything else would’ve broken her.
Now, two years later, she didn’t feel broken anymore.She felt ready.Ready to ask the question again.
This time, not to be comforted.
This time, to be told the truth.
LATER THAT NIGHT…