Chapter 4: Six Years Without Her

“I’m so tired, Bradly. Tired of hoping and waiting for things to change.”

Then Varany finally said what she had been afraid to say. “Let’s end this. Let’s file for an annulment. I want out. If this is all our marriage is, I can’t do it anymore.”

Bradly went still. He stared at her as if he had never imagined she would be the one to leave.

Varany reached for his hand. “All I ever wanted was for you to choose me. I would have stayed through anything, Bradly, but you never gave me a reason to believe you wanted me to.”

She lowered her head, ready to let him go. But before she could pull away, Bradly wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

For once, neither of them argued. They simply held on to each other, and that night, they made a choice neither could take back.

By three-thirty in the morning, Varany was awake beside him, listening to his steady breathing. His arm rested around her waist, but she carefully slipped out of bed before he could wake.

She dressed quietly, picked up her bag, and added the things she had prepared days earlier: her bankbook and important documents.

No one knew. Not Mom, not Ashley, not Bradly.

Varany had already withdrawn from school, transferred everything, and made arrangements for the life she planned to build alone.

She glanced back at Bradly, still asleep, and forced herself to leave before she changed her mind. A taxi took her back to their house, where she quickly packed the rest of her belongings.

She left behind the jewelry, credit cards, expensive gifts, and everything else that belonged to her life with Bradly. She took only what she had brought when she became his wife.

Before leaving, Varany placed the house key and wedding ring on the table beside their wedding picture. She stared at the photograph for a moment, then turned it face down.

Six months. That was all it had taken for the life she had spent years trying to build to fall apart.

Varany picked up her suitcase and walked away without looking back. She was leaving behind the memories, the gifts, and the future she had once believed they would have.

Varany told herself she was starting a new life, one that belonged to her. She stepped outside and forced herself to keep walking because she knew that if she looked back, she might return to Bradly and the same impossible hope.

Yet part of her still wished he would come after her.

“Mommy, are you mad at me?”

Nihan's voice pulled Varany from her thoughts. Ashley was holding the little girl's hand, and Nihan looked up at her with worried eyes.

“I won't look for Dad anymore,” Nihan said. “Please don't cry. I'm sorry.”

Varany quickly wiped her cheeks and pulled her daughter into her arms. “No, baby. Mommy isn't mad at you.”

Nihan clung to her. “Don't cry, okay?”

Varany held her tighter. Nihan was too young to understand the reasons behind her mother's pain, but she knew what her daughter wanted.

A father.

If Varany had known she was pregnant, she wondered if she would have stayed with Bradly despite everything, just so Nihan could have the family she deserved. She had given her daughter a home, food, clothes, and all the love she could, but there was one thing she could never provide.

Her father.

Ashley watched them quietly. When Nihan's crying eased, she distracted her with a story and a few silly faces.

Varany took a breath and stood. “Sis, can you watch her for a bit?”

“Of course. What do you need?”

“I have some paperwork to finish for tomorrow's delivery.”

Work was easier to focus on. Orders, numbers, and schedules were things she could control, and the café was something she had built for herself and Nihan.

FLASHBACK

Two years earlier, shortly after Nihan was born, Varany had worked during the day and cared for her daughter at night. By the end of the first year, the café was finally becoming stable. Customers returned, word spread, and Varany began making a profit instead of worrying about every bill.

With the business doing well, she returned to school for her final semester in Culinary Arts. After graduating, she let the nanny go because she could not bear missing more of Nihan's childhood.

Two months later, everything changed when Varany ran into Ashley.

They both froze. Ashley's eyes moved from Varany to Nihan, and Varany immediately knew she could no longer disappear.

Instead of running, she stayed.

They took Nihan out to eat and let her play while they sat across from each other, six years of silence between them.

Ashley finally broke the silence.

“Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you?”

“You disappeared,” Ashley said. “Like you never existed. You didn't even tell me.”

Varany lowered her eyes. She had no excuse.

“Do you know I would've supported you?” Ashley asked. “No matter what happened?”

Varany knew she was right.

Then Ashley looked toward Nihan. Her expression softened.

“That little girl… she's my niece, isn't she?”

Varany froze.

“She looks like him.”

Ashley fell silent as the realization sank in. Then she lowered her head.

“I'm sorry.”

Varany reached across the table and took her hand. She had missed Ashley more than she had ever admitted. After discovering she was pregnant, there had been many times when she almost called, only to put her phone down.

“No. I'm the one who should be sorry,” Varany said. “I ran from everything and everyone. I didn't know how to heal while staying in the place that broke me.”

Ashley squeezed her hand.

For the first time in six years, Varany did not feel completely alone.

“She’s your niece,” Varany finally said.

“Nihan Everhart,” Varany said. “She's four, turning five soon.”

A small smile appeared as she looked toward the play area, where Nihan was trying to convince another child that she was in charge.

“You'll love her. She's loud and a little dramatic.”

Ashley laughed through her tears. “She probably got that from you.”

For a moment, they laughed like they used to.

Then Ashley grew serious. “My brother deserves to know. Please don't keep Nihan away from us. I know he hurt you, but don't take this away from your daughter.”

Varany closed her eyes. She knew Ashley had a point.

“I was never going to hide her forever. I'll bring her to you. To all of you.”

Relief crossed Ashley's face.

“But not yet. I'm not ready, especially not for him.”

“What if I don't want to wait?” Ashley asked. “What if I call him right now?”

Varany looked at her.

“Do you really think he wouldn't come looking for you?”

Varany's expression hardened.

“Then you won't find us again. If you tell him, we disappear.”

The warning changed the mood between them. Ashley knew Varany meant it.

The warning changed the mood between them.

Varany turned toward the play area, but Ashley caught her arm.

“Fine,” Ashley said. “I'll wait.”

Varany looked back.

“Six months. That's all I'm asking. Please let us be part of her life.”

Varany knew Ashley and Nihan deserved that much, even if she was not ready. She nodded.

END OF FLASHBACK

Four months had passed since that promise.

After seeing Nihan cry and apologize for wanting her father, those remaining months suddenly felt impossible. Varany stared at the paperwork on her desk, unable to focus on the orders and invoices in front of her.

One question kept returning:

How long could she keep Bradly away before protecting Nihan started hurting her instead?

Facing Bradly meant confronting everything Varany had spent six years trying to forget. But Nihan deserved answers. She deserved the chance to know her father.

Varany closed her eyes and took a breath.

She had to do it for Nihan. Her daughter deserved the truth and the chance to know her father, even if facing Bradly reopened everything Varany had spent six years trying to forget.

Varany opened her eyes. The fear was still there, but for the first time, she was no longer thinking about running.

She reached for her phone and hesitated before pressing the screen.

Decision made.

Tonight, she would call Ashley. After that, she would return to the life she had left behind and face the man she had never truly forgotten.

Walking away from Bradly had almost destroyed her.

Going back might be even worse.

And this time, there would be nowhere left to run.