“She told me that box made her realize she’d lost you forever.”
I looked at my empty wrist.
“She did.”
Three days later, I returned home.
Ryan was waiting in our living room.
The children were at school.
He stood when I entered.
“How’s your mother?”
“Home and recovering.”
“I’m glad.”
He hesitated.
“Kylie, I’m sorry.”
“For which part?”
“The affair. The lies. Everything.”
I sat across from him.
“Did you ever think about our children?”
He lowered his head.
“I knew I was hurting you, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Then he offered an explanation.
“We’d been drifting apart. Megan listened to me.”
I stared at him.
“I listened to you for eighteen years. I raised our children, managed our home, and supported you through every career change.”
“I know.”
“You decided our difficult moments justified betraying us.”
He started crying.
A few months earlier, I would have immediately comforted him.
