His face changed.
“You knew,” I whispered.
He stared at the paper.
Then at me.
“Yes.”
And for the first time since all of this began, Rebecca’s death was no longer enough to explain what had happened between us.
-END OF Chapter 4–Part 5 of 5
Daniel sat on the edge of the chair.
I remained on the bed.
Between us lay the note he had written eleven years earlier.
You made her feel guilty.
That is not love.
Stop doing this.
“You knew,” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you stop?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“I did.”
“For how long?”
“Three nights.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
Three nights.
Seventeen years reduced to three obedient nights.
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“So?”
“I started imagining things.”
“What things?”
“That you’d get sick.”
His voice became quieter.
“That something would happen and I’d miss it.”
“So you decided your fear mattered more than my no.”
