The whole drive, neither of us spoke.
I cracked the window and looked out at the city lights sliding past in ribbons of gold and white.
Years ago, Ethan had taken me down this same road to celebrate our first anniversary in the city. Back then we couldn’t afford a car. We rode a secondhand scooter and got hit with a parking ticket we could barely pay.
We laughed the whole night anyway.
“What are you smiling at?” Ethan asked suddenly.
He glanced over, reached out, pinched my cheek like old times.
“I haven’t seen you smile like that in forever.”
I turned to him.
For a second, I almost saw the man I used to love.
Then his phone lit up.
The name flashed for only a second, but it was enough.
Lila.
My smile vanished.
He answered through his Bluetooth. “What’s wrong?”
A weak, soft voice drifted through the car speakers. Even distorted, she sounded fragile on purpose.
Ethan’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“Is it serious?” he asked. “No, stay there. I’m coming.”
He hung up.
Then he took my hand. “Sophia, I’m sorry. An important client isn’t feeling well. I have to go to the hospital.”
“Send your assistant.”
He hesitated.
I held onto his hand harder. “Stay with me tonight.”
The words came out before I could stop them, and even I hated how desperate they sounded.
But for once, just once, I didn’t want to lose to that woman.
“Ethan,” I said, my voice thinner now. “You haven’t stayed with me in a long time.”
He checked the time, then gently but firmly pulled his hand away.
“Babe,” he said, “she’s really important.”
Not my dignity. Not our marriage. Not tonight.
She.
I stared at him.
He softened his voice like I was the one being unreasonable. “I swear I’ll come back as soon as I handle it, okay? Be good. Get out here and wait by the curb. I’ll have Chloe come pick you up.”
He stopped the car.
I looked at him for a long moment.
Long enough to catch the impatience underneath his fake tenderness.
Then I opened the door.
The second my heels hit the sidewalk, he drove off.
No hesitation.
No backward glance.
The wind in North City cut right through my trench coat. It wasn’t even forty degrees. I wrapped my arms around myself, but the cold still found every opening.
It’s okay, I told myself. Ethan Carter is not worth crying over.
But tears kept falling anyway.
I crouched down on the sidewalk, covering my face, shaking harder than I wanted to admit.
The night I found out he cheated hadn’t broken me this badly.
This did.
Because tonight, he chose her in front of me.
Not secretly.
Not accidentally.
Clearly. Calmly. Without guilt.
“Sophia?”
A familiar scent hit me first. Clean laundry, cedar, and something warm.
Then I was being wrapped in a coat and pulled into a hot chest.
Strong arms. Fast heartbeat.
“It’s okay,” Noah murmured, patting my back again and again. “Go ahead. Cry. I’m here.”
I laughed through my tears.
“I’m six years older than you.”
He held me tighter. “Then cry like an older woman. I don’t care.”
That made me laugh for real.
I didn’t fight him after that. Just let him hold me there on the sidewalk while the wind howled around us.
When I could finally breathe again, I looked up at him.
“What are you doing here?”
His dark eyes blinked innocently. “Coincidence.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
He smiled. “Okay. Maybe I missed you. Maybe I wanted to be near your apartment. Maybe I hoped your husband would screw up.”
I stared at him.
He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “He did, huh?”
Something inside me gave way.
“Come home with me,” I said.
His eyes widened.
Then he nodded once.
No jokes. No teasing.
Just yes.