Chapter 4
848 Words
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Claire stared at Ethan’s phone.
The message from Sophie was still visible.
I can’t keep being your secret.
Ethan slowly locked the screen.
Claire’s eyes lifted to his.
“Who is Sophie?”
His jaw tightened.
“Claire—”
“Who is she?”
He looked away.
That was enough.
Claire stepped back.
She felt strangely calm.
Too calm.
“How long?”
Ethan exhaled.
“Claire, please.”
“How long?”
“A few months.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
She nodded slowly.
“A few months.”
“Yes.”
“Does she love you?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire gave a bitter laugh.
“Of course you don’t.”
He looked at her.
“Is there someone else?”
She froze.
For a moment, she thought about lying.
Then she remembered the message from Ryan.
The name on Ethan’s screen.
The exhaustion in both their faces.
“Yes.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Ryan?”
Claire nodded.
Neither of them asked for details.
Perhaps they were both afraid of the answers.
They stood on opposite sides of the balcony, staring at each other like strangers who had somehow spent four years sharing a life.
“You cheated on me,” Ethan said quietly.
“So did you.”
“I know.”
“And yet we’re both standing here acting like we’re the victims.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I never stopped loving you.”
Claire’s breath caught.
“Neither did I.”
The admission changed something.
Not enough to repair what they’d broken.
But enough to remind them why it hurt so much.
⸻
They didn’t sleep that night.
Instead, they sat in the living room with the lights off.
No accusations.
No shouting.
Just silence.
Around midnight, Ethan finally spoke.
“Do you remember our first Christmas together?”
Claire smiled faintly.
“You bought me a terrible sweater.”
“You said you liked it.”
“I was being polite.”
“You wore it for three years.”
“Because you looked so proud every time I did.”
Ethan laughed.
Claire laughed too.
It was the first genuine laugh they’d shared in weeks.
They began remembering.
Their first apartment.
Their disastrous road trip.
The night they got caught dancing in the rain.
The proposal.
Their wedding.
The tiny restaurant where they had celebrated their first anniversary.
Every memory seemed to prove the same thing.
They hadn’t imagined their love.
It had been real.
It was still real.
That was what made everything so painful.
At two in the morning, Ethan looked at her.
“Claire.”
“Hmm?”
“Come here.”
She hesitated.
Then she moved closer.
He took her hand.
Neither spoke.
His thumb brushed across her wedding ring.
“I missed this,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Us.”
Claire looked at him.
“So did I.”
He leaned closer.
She didn’t move away.
Their foreheads touched.
For a moment, everything outside that room disappeared.
No Ryan.
No Sophie.
No betrayal.
Just the two people who had once promised each other forever.
Ethan kissed her.
It was gentle.
Almost uncertain.
Claire closed her eyes.
When they pulled apart, neither spoke.
She rested her head against his shoulder.
“Maybe we should have talked sooner,” she whispered.
“Maybe.”
“Would it have changed anything?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at him.
“Neither do I.”
⸻
Morning arrived too quickly.
Claire woke on the sofa with her head against Ethan’s shoulder.
For a few seconds, she forgot everything.
Then reality returned.
She sat up.
Ethan was already awake.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
There was awkwardness now.
But something else too.
A small warmth neither had felt in months.
Ethan stood.
“I’m making breakfast.”
Claire smiled.
“Since when can you cook?”
“I can cook.”
“You once burned toast.”
“That was years ago.”
“And you nearly set off the fire alarm.”
He smiled.
“Still remember?”
“I remember everything.”
He looked at her.
This time, neither of them looked away.
⸻
By noon, the fragile peace had begun to settle between them.
They didn’t discuss Ryan.
They didn’t discuss Sophie.
Not yet.
Instead, they cleaned the apartment together.
They argued over music.
They ordered lunch.
For a few hours, they almost felt normal.
Almost.
Then Claire’s phone vibrated.
She looked down.
Ryan: We need to talk.
Her smile disappeared.
Across the room, Ethan noticed.
His own phone vibrated seconds later.
He checked it.
Sophie: I’m coming over tonight.
Ethan looked at Claire.
She was already looking at him.
Neither said anything.
Their fragile morning suddenly felt like borrowed time.
Because whatever happened next, their secrets were no longer safely hidden.
And sooner or later, both Ethan and Claire would have to decide whether they were going to protect their marriage—
or finally let it go.
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