"Ready to go home?" he asked. "More than ready." As they drove through Toronto traffic, Emma reflected on how different this felt from a year ago. Then, every car ride had been tense with things they weren't saying. Now, they used drive time to decompress together, share their days, plan their eve
One year later, Emma stood at the window of their shared office in the Maple Leafs headquarters, watching Alek field questions from a group of reporters in the conference room below. He looked confident and comfortable, every inch the co-owner he'd become. "The partnership model has exceeded our ex
Six months later, Emma woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of Alek's voice drifting up from the kitchen. She could hear Charlotte giggling and Frankie chattering about dinosaurs, the comfortable chaos of a family morning. She stretched in their bed—their bed, not hers or his—and smiled at
Alek's phone rang while he was helping Charlotte with her homework at the kitchen table. He glanced at the screen and felt his stomach tighten. Katarina. "Who is it, Daddy?" Charlotte asked, looking up from her math worksheet. "Just work, sweetheart. Keep going on those addition problems." Alek
"Alek?" "It feels like we're choosing to be affectionate instead of doing it out of habit. More intentional." "Are you sleeping in the same room yet?" "No," Alek said. "I'm still in the guest room." "By choice?" "By mutual agreement. We want to make sure we're sleeping together because we want
"So you're both committed to working on your marriage?" Dr. Rebecca Martinez looked between Emma and Alek, her expression warm but professional. "Yes," Emma said immediately. "I think so," Alek said more carefully. "I want to be. But I also want to be realistic about what that means." It was thei