Chapter 5

Before Darren could respond, I hung up. Then I turned off my phone.

The plane began to taxi. A deep, thunderous rumble filled the cabin.

I closed my eyes and let the faint sense of weightlessness wash over me as the aircraft lifted into the sky.

Ten years of entanglement—resolved in a single moment.

Back in the private room of the club, silence fell like a curtain.

Darren stood frozen, clutching his phone, the color drained from his face. All that remained was a pale, dazed expression.

Paula was gone. Really gone.

Not only had she left—she'd uncovered the secret he'd buried for ten years.

That lie about the pen pal was the most shameful product of his adolescence: a mix of vanity and jealousy.

Back then, he had envied the boy who called himself "Skyler," and the way he so effortlessly earned Paula's trust and affection. So Darren intercepted the letters and assumed the boy's identity.

He thought no one would ever find out.

He thought Paula would remain in the dark forever, l