The glow of candlelight danced along the surface of the wine glasses. A soft hum of jazz played beneath the ambient clinking of cutlery and whispered conversations all around them.
Katherine stared at the name like it wasn’t real.
Kingsley.
Everything around her dimmed.
That name, just the name, was a trigger. A rush of memories. A jolt to her ribs. A bitter bloom in her stomach. The soft way he once said her name. The nights she waited. The nights he didn’t come home. The things he left unsaid. The lies he didn’t need to speak for her to feel.
“Katherine?” Jordan’s voice sounded far away now. She blinked, trying to clear the fog. He leaned in gently, concern shadowing his expression. “Is everything okay?”
She shook her head quickly and dropped the phone back into her bag, sealing it
