CHAPTER SEVEN

What Was Left Between Us

Morning came slowly.

I woke up knowing that I had to go to work, but for a few seconds I simply lay there, staring at the ceiling.

Vince was still asleep.

We had spent the entire night together, but there was something strange about waking up knowing that we would both leave separately.

We didn't live together.

We hadn't lived together for a long time.

Our marriage had always been unusual.

We dated for six months, got married, and somehow still ended up living separate lives.

I would see him mostly on weekends.

I would visit him at work.

Sometimes we would spend time together, but even when we were sitting next to each other, I often felt like I was alone.

And now, after everything that had happened, I could finally see the pattern.

I wasn't suddenly lonely because he had married another woman.

I had been lonely long before that.

The wedding had simply forced me to stop pretending I wasn't.

Vince eventually woke up.

He didn't say much.

He reached for his phone almost immediately, checking something on the screen before getting out of bed.

I watched him for a moment.

That familiar game was there again.

The same game he had played whenever I was around.

I remembered how many times I had sat beside him while he played, waiting for him to finish so we could actually spend time together.

Sometimes I would ask him something and he would answer without even looking away from the screen.

Other times I would simply sit quietly.

Back then, I used to wonder whether I was asking for too much.

Now I knew I wasn't.

I had just been asking the wrong person.

I got up and started preparing for work.

There was no dramatic goodbye between us.

No emotional conversation.

No promises.

No discussion about what we were going to do about our marriage.

It was almost as though we had both silently agreed not to touch the subject.

While I was getting ready, I remembered something else.

The reason I had agreed to meet him in the first place.

Money.

I knew I was going to get money from Vince.

And I needed it.

That realization made me pause.

There was a time when I would have hated myself for thinking about money when it came to my husband.

I would have wanted to believe that I met him because I loved him.

Because I missed him.

Because I wanted us to work.

But that wasn't the truth anymore.

I wasn't going to Vince because I wanted romance.

I wasn't going because I expected him to choose me.

I wasn't even going because I believed our marriage could be repaired.

I went because I knew he would help me financially.

And strangely, I didn't feel guilty about it.

After everything he had done, I didn't feel like I owed him an explanation for needing help.

He had broken the promises between us long before I stopped expecting anything from him.

When he finally gave me the money, I accepted it.

I didn't pretend it meant something romantic.

I didn't thank him as though he had rescued me.

I simply took it.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

He nodded.

"Okay."

That was all.

I put the money away and continued getting ready.

The silence between us wasn't uncomfortable anymore.

It was almost normal.

And that was what scared me.

How could two people who had once promised each other forever become this comfortable with being strangers?

Vince picked up his things.

"I have to go."

"I know."

"I'll see you."

I looked at him.

"Okay."

He walked toward the door.

For a second, I thought he might turn around.

Maybe some part of me expected him to say something.

Anything.

Maybe he would finally ask me how I was coping.

Maybe he would apologize.

Maybe he would tell me why he had done it.

But he didn't.

He simply left.

I stood there for a few seconds after the door closed.

Then I looked at the time.

I was going to be late for work.

I grabbed my bag and left too.

We went in completely different directions.

Just like our lives had been doing for a long time.

On the way to work, I thought about the night.

I didn't regret going.

I didn't regret taking the money.

And I didn't regret spending time with him.

But I also didn't feel the way I used to after being with him.

There was no excitement.

No longing.

No desperate need to know when I would see him again.

There was only acceptance.

Maybe that was what moving on actually felt like.

Not forgetting.

Not suddenly hating someone.

Just reaching a point where their presence no longer controls your emotions.

When I arrived at work, my colleagues immediately noticed me.

One of them looked at me.

"You look tired."

"I am."

"Where were you last night?"

I smiled.

"Out."

She raised an eyebrow.

"With who?"

I laughed.

"Why are you people so nosy?"

They laughed with me.

And for the first time, I didn't feel the need to explain myself.

I had my own secrets now.

Vince had his.

Liam had his.

James had no idea what was really happening in my life.

And somehow, I was in the middle of all of it.

My phone vibrated.

I looked down.

A message from James.

James: Morning. Did you sleep well?

I stared at it.

Then another message came through.

James: You disappeared yesterday.

I smiled.

Before I could reply, another notification appeared.

This time, it was Liam.

Liam: Morning.

Just one word.

Nothing more.

I looked at both messages.

James was asking if I was okay.

Liam was simply saying good morning.

And Vince had just walked out of my life again.

Three men.

Three completely different places in my life.

And I was beginning to realize that none of them knew the whole truth about me.

I didn't know it then, but my life was about to become even more complicated.

Because the man I thought was Justin had another name.

The man I was married to had another wife.

And the man who was quietly becoming part of my everyday life didn't even know I was married.

I thought I had already survived the worst part.

I was wrong.

The biggest truth of my life hadn't even arrived yet.