“Yeah. I know.”
That sentence revealed we had more in common than expected.
I didn’t invite Adrian home afterward.
Forgiveness wasn’t a switch.
Instead, I gave him conditions.
Marriage counseling.
No secret contact with Maren that required lying to me.
No invented work trips.
No deciding which truths I was strong enough to hear.
And if something difficult happened, he had twenty-four hours to tell me before fear became secrecy.
Adrian agreed.
Then came the harder part.
“Maren doesn’t disappear because I’m angry with you.”
His eyes filled.
“She’s your
