Six Months After Goodbye

Adrian Vale didn’t think about Sophia Bennett after she left.

At least, that was what he told himself.

He returned to work.

Emails.

Contracts.

Meetings.

Numbers.

Everything that required his attention and nothing that required his heart.

It worked.

Until 8:47 that evening.

His phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

And froze.

Elena.

For six months, he had imagined what he would say if she ever called.

He had rehearsed anger.

Indifference.

Coldness.

He had imagined himself refusing to answer.

Instead, he stared at her name until the phone nearly stopped ringing.

Then he answered.

“Hello.”

Silence.

He could hear her breathing.

“Adrian.”

His eyes closed.

That voice.

He hated how quickly he recognized every change in it.

“Why are you calling?”

“I need to ask you something.”

His eyes opened.

“What?”

“Did you mean what you said?”

Adrian frowned.

“When?”

“The night I told you.”

He knew exactly what she meant.

His fingers tightened around the phone.

“Yes.”

A pause.

“I did too.”

“What?”

“What I said.”

Her voice was calm.

Almost unnervingly calm.

“It was my choice.”

Adrian stood.

He walked toward the windows.

“Elena.”

“I want you to understand that.”

“I understand perfectly.”

“No, you don’t.”

His jaw tightened.

“You slept with another man.”

“Yes.”

“You knew what it would do to me.”

“Yes.”

“You knew what it would do to our marriage.”

“Yes.”

“And you did it anyway.”

“Yes.”

Each answer came without hesitation.

No excuses.

No tears.

No attempt to soften the truth.

That was what had driven him insane.

Adrian turned toward the city.

“Why?”

Silence.

“Why, Elena?”

“I’ve told you.”

“You wanted to?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not an explanation.”

“It is.”

“No.”

His voice hardened.

“It’s an answer. It isn’t an explanation.”

Elena didn’t respond.

Adrian continued.

“Was he blackmailing you?”

“No.”

“Did he threaten you?”

“No.”

“Did you owe him something?”

“No.”

“Money?”

“No.”

“Did someone in your family force you?”

“No.”

“Then what was it?”

Her voice remained steady.

“I wanted to.”

Adrian laughed once.

It was bitter.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

“Why?”

“Because I chose it.”

He stopped.

There it was again.

That word.

Choice.

She had used it before.

She had repeated it every time he’d asked.

Never accident.

Never mistake.

Never I was confused.

Never I didn’t know what I was doing.

Choice.

As if she had deliberately walked toward the edge of a cliff and stepped over it.

Adrian lowered his voice.

“Do you love him?”

“No.”

“Did you ever?”

“No.”

“Then why him?”

“I don’t know.”

His eyes narrowed.

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

“That’s convenient.”

“I know.”

“You destroyed four years of marriage because you don’t know?”

“Adrian—”

“No.”

He shook his head.

“I want an answer.”

“So do I.”

That stopped him.

For the first time, her voice cracked.

Only slightly.

But he heard it.

Adrian went silent.

Elena continued.

“I know what I did.”

“Then tell me why.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t?”

“Not yet.”

His heart began beating harder.

“Not yet?”

She said nothing.

Adrian stared through the glass.

“Are you in trouble?”

“No.”

“Are you afraid?”

“No.”

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

A long silence followed.

Then Elena said quietly—

“Because if I tell you, everything changes.”

Adrian’s expression hardened.

“Everything already changed.”

“I know.”

“Then what are you protecting?”

“Not myself.”

The answer unsettled him.

“Then who?”

She didn’t answer.

“Elena.”

“I have to go.”

“No.”

She hesitated.

“Adrian—”

“You don’t get to call me after six months, tell me there’s a reason you destroyed our marriage, and then disappear again.”

“I didn’t say there was a reason.”

“You implied it.”

“No.”

Her voice became firmer.

“I said it was my choice.”

“Why do you keep insisting on that?”

“Because I don’t want you to think someone forced me.”

“Why would I think that?”

“Because I know you.”

He said nothing.

“You’ve spent six months trying to find someone to blame.”

Adrian’s throat tightened.

“I blame you.”

“I know.”

“And him.”

“I know.”

“And myself.”

Silence.

Elena’s voice softened.

“That’s why.”

Adrian frowned.

“Why what?”

“Why I need you to believe it was my choice.”

He stared at the phone.

Something wasn’t right.

He could feel it.

Elena wasn’t calling for money.

She wasn’t asking him to take her back.

She wasn’t even asking him to forgive her.

She was trying to make him believe something.

Something specific.

Something she considered important enough to call him after six months of silence.

“Elena.”

“Yes?”

“If this wasn’t about Marcus…”

She said nothing.

“Then what was it about?”

A pause.

Then—

“I can’t tell you.”

The call ended.

Adrian lowered the phone slowly.

He didn’t move.

Outside, London glittered beneath the night sky.

Six months ago, he had believed he understood what happened.

His wife had betrayed him.

She had wanted another man.

She had chosen him.

Simple.

Cruel.

Final.

But tonight, for the first time, Adrian wondered whether he had mistaken an answer for the truth.

He walked back to his desk.

Sophia’s résumé was still there.

The ridiculous handwritten note was still attached to it.

I really, really need this job. Please don’t fire me.

His eyes passed over it.

For the first time, he didn’t smile.

His mind was somewhere else.

On Elena.

On Marcus.

On the strange insistence in her voice.

It was my choice.

Why was she so determined that he believe that?

Adrian opened his desk drawer.

Inside was the velvet box.

He took it out.

Opened it.

Elena’s ring caught the light.

He stared at it.

Then at his phone.

Six months of silence.

One phone call.

One impossible sentence.

And suddenly, Adrian wasn’t wondering whether Elena still loved him.

He was wondering something far more dangerous.

What was Elena hiding?