LOGINI felt a knot form in my stomach. “What did Darrel do?” “He just stared at me.” She lowered her hands. “I will never forget the look on his face. He looked as though I had reached into his chest and ripped his heart out. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He asked me if any of our marriage had been real, if I had ever loved him, and whether I had been laughing at him all those years.” She swallowed hard. “I tried to explain myself, but there was nothing I could say that would make things better. I told him I was sorry, but he didn't want to hear it.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Then he left.” I stared at her. “He just left?” “He packed his things and walked out of the house. He didn't want to see me, and he didn't want to speak to me. I tried calling him, but he wouldn't answer. I sent him messages, but he ignored them.” She shook her head. “And I couldn't blame him. I had lied to him about the most important things in our lives. I had allowed him to believe y
I looked at her. “Again?” “Yes. Her condition started getting worse, and this time, things became much more serious. David was terrified. He was trying to take care of her while raising Noah, and I knew he was struggling.” She swallowed. “But even then, he continued calling me at night. We still met whenever we could. He would tell me how worried he was about Mabel, and I would listen to him. Sometimes, he needed someone to talk to, and I was there.” She looked away. “I was there for him while his wife was dying.” Her voice broke. “I know how that sounds, Rosalie. I know I should have been ashamed of myself. But I had convinced myself that David and I shared something that nobody else could understand. I believed I was the person he truly needed, even though he was still married to Mabel.” She wiped her eyes. “And when Mabel finally died, I was the one standing beside him.” The room fell silent. I thought about Noah. I thought about how he had lost his mother and how that
My mother took a deep breath and continued. “After a while, Mabel got better. The doctors treated her, and eventually, she was able to go home. David was relieved, of course. He was so happy to have his wife and their baby back with him, and when she gave birth to Noah, he was over the moon.” She smiled faintly. “I remember the first time I saw Noah. He was such a beautiful baby, Rosalie. David couldn't stop talking about him. He would tell anyone who cared to listen how perfect his son was, and whenever he spoke about Noah, I could hear the happiness in his voice.” She paused, and her smile slowly faded. “But even after Noah was born, David and I continued seeing each other.” I stared at her. “Mom, you were still sleeping with him even after he had a child?” “Yes.” She lowered her eyes. “I know how terrible that sounds. I knew Mabel had just given birth, and I knew David was trying to be a good husband and father. But somehow, I still couldn't bring myself to stop.” She si
My mother explained that Darrel had been out of town for work, and she had gone clubbing with some of her girlfriends.“I hadn't planned to do anything wrong. I wanted to have fun, dance, and enjoy myself. I thought a night out would help me relax.”She looked away.“But David was there.”I sighed.“Of course he was.”My mother gave me a small, apologetic smile.“I know. It sounds ridiculous when I tell the story now. But there he was, standing with some of his friends, and when our eyes met, I felt that same familiar pull.”She paused.“At first, we didn't approach each other. We just kept seeing each other across the room. Then, at some point, we ended up on the dance floor together.”She shook her head slowly.“I don't know how to explain what happened that night. Maybe it was because we had history. Maybe it was because we had never really dealt with our feelings for each other. Or maybe it was simply because we were both making a terrible decision.”She looked at me.“But when we
“Several months later, I married Darrel.”My mother gave a small, distant smile as she remembered the day.“The wedding was beautiful. Our friends and family came, and everyone was happy for us. Darrel looked at me as though he couldn't believe he was finally getting to marry the woman he loved.”She swallowed.“And when I walked down the aisle, I smiled at him. I said my vows, and I promised to love him, to stand by him, and to build a life with him.”She looked at me.“I meant to keep those promises, Rosalie. I really did.”I believed her.She had convinced herself that she could leave her past behind and become the wife Darrel deserved.But David had never really left her mind.“After the wedding, we went on our honeymoon, and I tried to enjoy every moment. Darrel was wonderful to me. He did everything he could to make me happy, and I wanted to be happy with him.”She paused.“When we returned, I thought I was finally ready to move on with my life. I stopped asking about David, and
My mother wiped her tears before continuing.“The next morning, David was furious.”She let out a tired sigh.“He was pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair and asking himself how something like that could have happened. He kept saying we were stupid, that we had both made a terrible mistake, and that he couldn't believe we had allowed things to go that far.”I sat quietly, trying to imagine David in that situation.“He was panicking, Rosalie. I had never seen him like that before. He was supposed to marry Mabel in a few weeks, and now he had slept with his ex-girlfriend. He didn't know what to do.”She paused, then continued.“But after a while, he stopped pacing and took a deep breath. He looked at me and said we needed to calm down.”My mother gave a sad smile.“He said we had both been drunk, that it didn't mean anything, and that we could pretend it never happened. According to him, we could go back to being friends, act as though nothing had happened, and con
The first thing I saw was the steady rise and fall of his chest as the morning light filtered through the blinds, painting stripes across Noah. He was still sleeping peacefully beside me and a stupid smile touched my lips. For a second, it just felt… good. Calm.Geez, I shouldn’t be here smiling at
My eyes widened at the words that came out of his mouth. What he said wasn’t what shocked me, it was the way he said that so easily. After holding his stare for a few seconds, I turned to the window. The silence engulfed us, before I decided to break it.“Well, it’s my turn.” I said opening the do
I woke up to a pounding headache that followed me all the way to school. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep as my mind was racing all night. Or maybe from all the tears I’d shed into my pillow.After Noah kissed me yesterday, his hand was trailing down to my breast when he suddenly pulled back and
I continued to walk, burning off all the rage still boiling inside me. Home was the last thing I had in mind. My feet just kept moving until I found myself at the edge of the woods.The lake.The lake that started this whole mess in the first place. If I hadn’t come here that night, I wouldn’t have







