Day Three
The pretending was the hardest part.Lia sat across from Julian at breakfast, forcing down toast while he read the morning paper. This had been their routine for five years of silent mornings where Julian absorbed the news and she existed quietly beside him.
She'd forgotten how suffocating the silence was.
"Dr. Richardson emailed," Julian said without looking up. "She wants us to do the communication exercise tonight. The one where we share something we appreciate about each other."
Lia's stomach turned. "Okay."
"I've been thinking about what to say." He folded the paper, finally meeting her eyes. "About what I appreciate about you."
She didn't want to hear this. Didn't want to participate in this exercise that felt like a betrayal of everything she'd built with Caspian.
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