Kieran sat in his study long past midnight, staring at his phone screen.
Mira's social media posts glowed in the darkness. Nine photos of a Christmas celebration he hadn't known existed. A birthday he'd never thought to ask about.
December 25th. Christmas, obviously. But also Garrett Whitmore's birthday.
The same day as his own father's birthday.
In five years of marriage, he'd never known. Never asked. Never wondered why Mira sometimes looked sad on December 25th even while dutifully serving his family.
He zoomed in on one photo: Mira laughing, flour on her cheek, a little girl—her niece—wrapped around her waist. She looked happy. Genuinely, radiantly happy.
He'd never seen that expression directed at him.
"You knew almost nothing about Mira's life before your marri
