he table for dinner hours ago, placing his favorite meal: grilled steak, mashed potatoes, and a side of asparagus on the dinner plates, hoping for a q

for what seemed like endless meetings. He would come home, tired but still preoccupied, barely engaging with her or Eli. At first, Elena had chalked it up to the d

A quiet tension in his posture. A weariness in his

alk about anything, whether it was trivial or serious. Now, their conversations seemed reduced to surface-level exchanges about work, school,

followed by the familiar click of Marcus's shoes on the hardwood

to sound upbeat. "I was starting to t

iking. "Sorry, love. I lost track of time. You know how it is." His

"I made your favorite. It's still warm." She motioned to the tab

fridge. He opened it and grabbed a bottle of water, t

nce between them, the coldness that seemed to stretch across the room. He hadn't even said anything about her cooki

ere planning to go over Eli's school project t

er response. He took a slow sip of water and finally sat down, but his

ir across from him and sitting down. She tried again, her tone lighter

eyes not leaving the s

eel her patience waning, but she

e weekend in the city. Eli has been asking about the zoo, and

phone. "Sounds good, I guess. Let me check my c

n expecting the answer, but it still hurt to hear it. "Right,"

ed for a moment longer than she could handle. She set her fork

her voice trembling just sl

, then back to his phone. "Everyt

not just work. You've been coming home late every night, barely talking to me. And

relaxed. He put his phone down on the table, finally meeting her eyes. But there was

een a lot lately," he said, his v

" she replied, her tone softer now. "But you ca

t, his lips pressing into a thin li

right now. This promotion is important to me," he said, almost pleading with his wo

s career, always understood the sacrifices that came with being married to someone so driven. But

ing like everything's fine," she said, her voice bare

n, his voice quieter now, but still distant

surmountable, and Elena couldn't shake the feeling that

allway. "Mom, Dad, I'm ready to show you my project!" His cheerful tone was like

raction, and forced a smile. "We'll be

rhead. "I'll go check it out," he said,

s quickly extinguished. She followed him into Eli's room, putting on a brave face as her son eagerly showed off his project, but

er, when their family felt whole. Just yesterday, they were all sweet and smiling, and today it was different. This was becoming a constan

to show, and Elena couldn