Chapter 4

Later that afternoon, Daniel’s mother, Susan, called.

“Daniel, we’re having dinner tonight. Is Mia bringing Zion again?”

Daniel glanced at the time.

“No,” he said calmly. “He’s not actually Mia’s brother, and he wasn’t invited.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Susan didn’t press him. She simply told him to come over early.

By the time Daniel arrived, his father was already setting the table.

When Charles saw Daniel walk in alone, he glanced toward the front door.

“Mia still at work?”

“Something came up at the precinct. She’ll be here later.”

The excuse came out automatically.

Daniel paused.

He had spent years making excuses for Mia.

He wouldn’t be doing that anymore.

By seven thirty, Mia still hadn’t shown up.

Susan reheated dinner twice and tried calling her, but she never answered.

Daniel didn’t call or text her.

Instead, he sat with Charles and asked how he had been feeling lately. As they talked, Daniel cut a tender piece of fish from the fillet and placed it on Susan’s plate.

At 8:05, the sound of a car pulling up finally came from outside.

Mia walked through the door, still in uniform.

She took off her cap and glanced around the dining room before her eyes settled on Daniel.

“Why haven’t you answered my messages?”

Daniel pulled out his phone.

Mia had sent him one text twenty minutes earlier, telling him to go back to Clearwater Heights and pick up a change of clothes for her.

That was it.

“I didn’t see it.”

“You never used to miss my messages.”

She said it as though he had failed to do something that was simply expected of him.

Daniel locked his phone.

He didn’t explain.

Sensing the tension between them, Susan stood and went to the kitchen for another place setting.

“Mia, no matter how busy work gets, you still have to eat. Daniel said you were coming tonight, so we made your favorite barbecue ribs.”

Mia sat down at the table, the irritation still lingering between her brows.

“You didn’t have to go to all that trouble, Mom.”

“You’re family. It’s no trouble.”

Susan handed her a plate.

Then her gaze lingered on Mia for a moment.

Under her uniform jacket, Mia wore a black turtleneck.

A faint woody scent clung to the collar.

Daniel recognized it immediately.

It was Zion’s cologne.

Considering how close they had been in the garage the night before, it wasn’t surprising that some of it had rubbed off on her.

In the past, Daniel would have asked about it.

He would have been hurt.

He might have spent the entire night wondering where the two of them had gone.

Now, he simply shifted his chair a little farther away.

Mia noticed.

She looked at him.

“Why are you moving away from me?”

“The smell’s too strong.”

“What smell?”

“Zion’s cologne.”

Conversation around the table stopped.

Charles set down his fork, his expression darkening.

Susan looked at Mia with a puzzled frown.

Mia lowered her head and smelled the collar of her sweater.

Then she remembered Zion grabbing onto her when he had another episode at the hospital the night before.

“He had an episode at the hospital last night. I had to help him.”

“Okay.”

That was all Daniel said.

Then he went back to eating.

Mia frowned.

She had clearly been prepared to explain herself, but Daniel hadn’t given her anything to respond to.

In the past, if he caught another man’s cologne on her, he would always ask about it.

Even when he kept quiet, she could still read exactly how he felt from his expression.

Tonight, he gave her nothing.

Susan broke the silence by asking Mia how work had been lately.

Mia answered briefly, but before long, her phone rang again.

The caller’s name was clearly visible on the screen.

Zion Quinn.

Mia looked at it and declined the call.

Less than ten seconds later, he called again.

Charles spoke firmly.

“You’re having dinner with family. Can’t this wait until you’re finished?”

“He might not be feeling well.”

Mia picked up her phone and headed out to the patio to take the call.

Daniel kept eating.

He didn’t even look up.

As soon as Mia answered, Zion’s slightly breathless voice came through the phone.

The patio door hadn’t closed all the way, so everyone at the table could hear parts of the conversation.

“Mia, I just can’t fall asleep. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Did you take your medication?”

“Yeah, but every time I close my eyes, I see the crash all over again.”

Mia lowered her voice and reassured him for a few minutes.

Then she called a driver from Zion’s family and asked him to go stay with Zion.

By the time Mia came back to the table, Charles had already gone to his study.

Susan forced a smile and carried the cold soup back to the kitchen to reheat it.

No one said another word for the rest of dinner.

Twenty minutes later, Daniel said goodbye to his parents.

Mia followed him outside and opened the passenger door of her black SUV.

“Get in.

“My car’s parked down the street.

“I’ll drive you.”

Daniel didn’t argue.

He simply got into the passenger seat.

The SUV left the older part of town and merged onto the highway.

Mia kept both hands on the wheel, her expression cool and unreadable.

She seemed to be waiting for Daniel to apologize first.

They made it through two more exits before she finally lost patience.

“Where did you go last night?”

“Ethan’s studio.”

“Next time we fight, don’t just disappear. Your parents are getting older. If they find out, they’ll only worry.”

Daniel watched the streetlights slide past outside the window.

“So you do know they worry.”

Mia frowned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

His tone was so flat that she glanced over at him.

“You went too far last night. Zion came back because he needs treatment. He didn’t come here to interfere with our marriage.”

Her voice hardened.

“You dumped water on him in front of everyone, and then you let Ethan humiliate him. You need to make this right.”

“What exactly does he want from me?”

“An apology.”

“Not happening.”

Mia hit the brakes and pulled over to the shoulder.

A car behind them honked sharply.

She switched on the hazard lights and turned toward Daniel.

“How long are you planning to keep this up?”

Daniel met her eyes.

“You stayed with Zion all night, didn’t you?”

“He has severe trauma. I couldn’t just leave him alone at the hospital.”

“He has a driver, household staff, and a private doctor. He’s twenty-six, Mia. He’s not six.”

“That accident happened because of me.”

Her voice rose.

“If he hadn’t been waiting for me in the rain that night, he never would’ve gotten hurt. Taking care of him is my responsibility.”

Responsibility.

Daniel had been hearing that word for five years.

“So whenever he needs you, you can drop everything and leave me behind?”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“You’re right. To you, it isn’t.”

His voice stayed calm.

“Everything Zion feels matters to you. But when it comes to me, I’m just being difficult.”

Mia was silent for two seconds.

When she spoke again, her voice had gone cold.

“Daniel, you’re my husband. You and Zion aren’t the same.”

She looked straight at him.

“I don’t owe you what I owe him. And you shouldn’t use my guilt over what happened to him as an excuse to get jealous.”

That was when Daniel finally understood.

In this marriage, being her husband had never meant coming first.

It meant he was always the one expected to give in, be understanding, and put up with being overlooked.

Everything he had done for her hadn’t made her value him more.

It had only made it easier for her to hurt him.

He’d had enough.

“Mia.”

“What?”

“I want a divorce.”

The car went completely silent.

Mia stared at him as if she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“What did you just say?”

“I’m already getting the divorce papers together.”

Daniel’s voice remained steady.

“We’ll divide the house, the cars, and our savings according to the law. I won’t take anything that belongs to you.”

He unbuckled his seat belt.

The shock in Mia’s eyes slowly turned to anger.

“You want to divorce me because of Zion?”

“This isn’t about him.”

“Then what is it about?”

Her questions came one after another.

“Because I missed our anniversary last night? Because I told you to apologize?”

She still didn’t get it.

Their marriage hadn’t fallen apart because of one single incident.

It had been all of it.

Daniel reached for the door handle.

“Because I don’t want to love you anymore.”

That finally left her speechless.

Daniel got out and started walking down the sidewalk.

Cold air slipped beneath his collar, and the familiar tightness returned to his chest.

He slowed his pace, but he never looked back.

Behind him, the SUV stayed parked at the curb, its hazard lights blinking in the dark.

Mia sat behind the wheel and watched him disappear farther down the street.

For the first time, he didn’t come back.