Alara
As we pulled up to the house, my chest felt tight. Every breath was shallow, and my hands were clammy as I tried to hold myself together. The drive home had been silent, Kaelen oblivious to the storm raging inside me. I kept replaying Lucas’s words over and over in my head. I felt nothing but horrible inside of me.
As soon as we got inside, I could feel my composure slipping. I couldn’t pretend anymore. The silence between us was suffocating, and I needed answers. I couldn’t live like this—married to someone who saw me as nothing more than a solution to some unspoken problem.
“Kaelen,” I called out softly, my voice barely steady.
He turned to me, raising an eyebrow in question. “What’s wrong?”
I swallowed hard, bracing myself for the conversation I wasn’t sure I was ready to hav
