Dunl

in our three years of marriag

space he should have been occupying. I remembered our wedding night, tucked away in

ity. "No matter how big the fight, we solve it. Separate rooms are the b

ow I had ever heard. Now, they were just another broken

room into a deep, velvety darkness, a

elt a shift in the mattress, a warmth spreadin

ti

against him. He buried his face in my hai

voice a low, pleading murmur.

g in the inky sky. The apology felt hollow, a practiced script he was reci

re?" I asked, my voi

ised," he said softly. "We don't let th

e, hot tear escaped and slid down my temple, disappearing into the silk of the pillo

is behavior. "She messed up a presentation, and I had to clean up the mess. It put me i

hot through my chest. A gift. The ol

ed, my voice carefully neutral.

l how she had used the wrong data in a pitch to a major client, how she had cried in his office, how he had spent hours comforting her and fixing

drama. He thrived on bei

" he said, his tone shifting back to cautious and soothing. "I shouldn't have taken it out

loring my words. "You have to be her knight in shining armor.

d. He slowly pulled his hand away

e only sound in the r

ow I almost missed it. "Maybe

r months. The words hung in the darkness, final and irrevocable. He hadn' t chosen a life with me; he had