m comin

nly sound the faint static of a long-di

ling for

calm, steady, and exactly what I needed to hear. "I'

nks,

washing over me. Seven years. A seven-year marri

d always felt more like a modern art gallery than a place to live. It was

e, walked in. She looked perfect, as always, he

voice smooth. "The dinner with the Henderso

She was always working, always closing a deal, always networking. I h

ago. "A healthy marriage requires independence." I had agreed. I had given her a separate study, respected her late

" I asked, m

ltering for a fraction o

t held up my phone and

go. It showed Olivia, laughing, leaning intimately against her much younger pe

asn't the

flink, shaped like a tiny, intricate blueprint scroll. It was one of a kind. I knew be

as currently on my o

e saw the photo. The polished smile vanishe

oice. She tossed her briefcase onto a sterile white ar

r than the photo itself. There was no apolog

th a rage I couldn't control. "You' re sleeping w

she sighed, waving a hand dismis

ift for our

. "Look, we have a good arrangement. A partnership. It' s mutually beneficial. You get the social standing of being marri

ng. A partnership. Mutually be

just supposed

counter, and gave me a look that was

final. "I have needs, Ethan. Liam fulfills them. If you' re unhappy, you' re free to find someon

't just admitting to an affair. She was giving me permission to have one, as if that w

chest. The woman I had loved, the woman I had built a life with, was a stranger. Or

aid, my voice barely a

't need to hear her response. I already knew what it would be: a si