All Chapters of After Three Years: She Wakes Up: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

You might be wondering why a single mix-up with a plane ticket was enough to make me lose all hope in my husbandThe thing is, it wasn’t just one mistake. This ticket was the last mistake, his last chance to prove his love. But for this to make sense, we need to go back one more month…[ONE MONTH AGO]“Welcome home,” I smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Dinner’s almost ready.”Misha paused by the door, loosening his tie as he exhaled. “Hey,” he said, his voice tired but gentle. “It was a long day.”He leaned in to kiss my cheek—brief, familiar, practiced—before slipping off his shoes.“I just need a quick shower,” he added. “Then I’m all yours.”I nodded, stepping aside to let him pass. “Of course.”Like most evenings lately, everything about him felt rushed, compressed into the small spaces left over after work. Carter Tech was expanding overseas, and the pressure had been relentless. Late nights. Endless meetings. Too many responsibilities resting on his shoulder

No.Misha would never cheat on me. He couldn’t. As I pulled into the long drive leading to his mother’s house. My heart beat faltered, my chest tight like someone had stabbed me and left my body pinned to the seat of the car. Closing my eyes, I exhaled slowly before opening the door and stepping out to face the large mansion at the end of the drive. I can’t let these dark thoughts affect me. Today is going to be hard enough as it is.Rolling my shoulders, I walked towards the house. As soon as the front door glides open, the elegant trill of laughter draws my attention to the nearby sitting room. From the sudden elevated quality of their conversation, it is obvious that they intended me to hear every word they are saying. “Oh Lena, It’s tragic really,” a silver spoon chimed against fine porcelain as my mother-in-law bemoaned her fate. “Three years and she’s still barren. Our family has tolerated her presence and for what–no child, no degree, no career,” she huffed, “What a disappoint

You could say that I had two wake up calls that day, but the true depth of their meaning would become clear later, when I got home to check my email. There were two new messages at the top of my inbox. The first was from Dr. Ryland Winchester and the HR department of Haven Medical Group. The second one was from the camera I had installed in the car. My heart skipped. Good news, bad news–which one do I open first?Exhaling, I chose to look at the offer letter. It was a generous offer–far more generous than I was expecting. If I took the position, not only would I get an opportunity to work on a fully-funded research team among some of the country’s physicians, including my old mentor Professor Winchester, I would be paid handsomely for my services–three times what I’d make here in NYC for any of the local hospitals.It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A reset button on the last three years. It would be like I never gave up my future to support Misha with his.Even as I stared

As the plane left JFK headed west, I felt the weight of the last three years lift from my shoulders and the first true smile in a very long time stretched across my face. No more waiting. No more crying.I’m done with all of that.I couldn't remember the last time I was able to just think about myself first without thinking of someone else’s needs. Misha has been my entire world for the last three years, and every decision I made centered on how I could support HIS life and HIS career.I’m not sure if I know how to be someone without him. God, that sounds pathetic. Sighing, I grabbed my carry on and placed it on the empty seat next to me and removed an old, wrinkled picture I kept with me wherever I went. It isa photo of the first man to ever love me–My father, William Joseph McKenna.Holding my keepsake next to my heart, I closed my eyes. “Guess what, Dad?” I said softly to the empty space next to me, imagining him seated beside me sharing this adventure. “I’m a doctor now. A real

Had this been the plan all along? Was the two-week trip, a trip that I would still be on right now, just a cover so that he could sneak away with his mistress to San Francisco for a private tryst? How ridiculous. A half-smile twisted my lips upward just as Misha’s gaze finally fell upon me. At first, he glanced over me, his gaze completely blank of recognition–I was just another face in the crowd. A woman he didn’t know. But then, something shifted in his eyes. He looked again. Squinting, he took a step forward. As the truth sunk in, his eyes widened, first in shock, before narrowing as his face bloomed red, and then darkened with barely suppressed outrage. “Ariana?!” he shouted, throwing off Mavis’ arm as he strode forward, his arms swinging widely. “What the hell are you doing here?”“I’m here to attend the conference,” I answered, flustered at first, but then more confident as I added. “In fact, I’m…” “So that’s it,” he said, realization dawning on him. “You ignored my calls