hands resting loosely in her lap. Her stomach churned, not with nausea, but with the heavy weight of uncertainty and fear that had settled into her life like an unwelcome guest. She had returned to

followed by the familiar, but increasingly te

stepped inside, "he's had another episode overni

the heart attack that nearly claimed him yesterday left a lingering dread. Sh

tly ajar door, she saw Mark slumped over the edge of the bed, pale, his hand pressed to his chest, and a sheen of sweat glistening across his furrowed

membered the nights of coldness, the accusations, the suffocati

e rasped, his voice wea

loser but keeping her distance, unsure w

simmering resentment. Mark, once the rock of authority in her life, now seemed fragile, like a broken reflection in a cr

th a new friend online, the stranger her mother had warned her about, yet something about him drew her

confident way he smiled, the subtle charm in his words, the way he seemed to see past her defe

Kayla's words from earlier echoed in her mind: "Be careful wh

xury she felt she

d to confide, to seek solace, but the fear of exposure, of destroying her reputation, kept her lips sealed. Every time her thoughts wa

f. Her mind wandered to Lissa, wondering how much her daughter understood of the world

nce was both a comfort and a provocation. He didn't knock; he simply let himself i

he asked casually, but there

around her coffee cup.

stepping closer. "You wanted to fo

uch, every stolen glance, was heavy with unspoken emotion. Her lips trembled, her heart

vant, had noticed her from the corner of the living room during his visit. He hadn't intende

Lissa froze, her phone

d, unsure why her

ding yet strangely gentle. "You sho

distracted by her own entanglement with Ben, didn't notice the subtle shif

encounter upstairs had ignited sparks that neither could ignore, yet the shadows of guilt and betrayal loome

in the house-a man unaware that the world he con

e city lights, her mind spinning. The cracks were everywhere-her marriage, her loyalty, her family, ev

heart, she knew the st