THE LAST NIGHT
1232 Words
I did not sleep.
For almost an hour, I lay in the guest room staring at the ceiling.
My phone said 1:17 a.m.
Soren had not come after me.
That should have made things easier.
Instead, I kept expecting the door to open.
Four years of marriage had taught me one thing about my husband.
Soren hated unfinished conversations.
Especially when he was losing them.
At 1:24, there was a knock.
I almost laughed.
Of course.
“What?”
The door opened.
Soren stood there holding the divorce papers.
“You signed them?”
“No.”
“Then goodnight.”
He entered anyway.
“Soren.”
“I knocked.”
“I didn’t invite you in.”
His eyes moved around the room.
“You hate this mattress.”
I stared at him.
“That is what you came here to discuss?”
“You complained about it for two years.”
“I also complained about my husband controlling my life. Apparently the mattress was easier to remember.”
His face tightened.
He closed the door but remained beside it.
“I didn’t destroy your job offer because I wanted to control you.”
“You already said that.”
“Nathan Cole is being investigated.”
That caught my attention.
“For what?”
“Financial crimes.”
I sat up.
“What kind of financial crimes?”
“I can’t discuss everything.”
There it was again.
I shook my head.
Soren exhaled.
“His company has been moving money through businesses connected to people I have been investigating.”
“You could have told me that.”
“I’m telling you now.”
“After you already made the decision for me.”
“You would have taken the job.”
“Maybe.”
“That is exactly why I stepped in.”
My anger returned.
“You still think that makes sense.”
“I think you would have walked into a situation without knowing who was around you.”
“Then give me the information and let me choose.”
“And if you choose wrong?”
I looked at him.
“Wrong according to who?”
“According to the person who has more information.”
“That is not marriage, Soren.”
“What do you want me to do? Watch you walk into danger because you want independence?”
“I want you to trust me enough to tell me there is danger.”
His silence stretched between us.
I pushed the blanket away and stood.
“Why is that so difficult?”
“Because the less you know, the safer you are.”
“From what?”
Soren looked away.
My stomach tightened.
There it was.
The wall.
Again.
I walked closer.
“What are you afraid of?”
“Nothing.”
“That is a lie.”
His eyes came back to mine.
“You have doubled my security twice this year.”
He said nothing.
“You changed our driver.”
Nothing.
“You stopped using the private elevator for almost a month.”
His expression sharpened.
“You noticed that?”
“I’m your wife, Soren. I notice everything. You just never explain any of it.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
For once, he looked tired rather than powerful.
“There have been threats.”
My anger cooled slightly.
“Against you?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Anonymous messages. Problems with company systems. Someone accessing information they shouldn’t have.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because none of it reached you.”
“Until you made sure I couldn’t take a job.”
His jaw tightened.
“That company is connected to it.”
I searched his face.
“Is tomorrow’s trip connected too?”
A pause.
“Soren.”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“Then don’t go.”
His expression changed.
It was small, but I saw it.
“I have to.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
“You’re the CEO. Send someone else.”
“This meeting requires me.”
“With who?”
He looked away again.
I laughed quietly.
“Unbelievable.”
“Liora—”
“You came here to prove I was wrong about you, and five minutes later you’re doing the same thing.”
“I am trying to tell you enough.”
“I don’t want enough. I want the truth.”
His voice hardened.
“And sometimes the truth comes with consequences.”
“Then let me decide whether I can handle them.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Because you won’t tell me!”
My voice filled the room.
Soren went silent.
I lowered mine.
“If you are in danger, I deserve to know.”
“I can handle it.”
“That is not the point.”
“It is to me.”
I stared at the man I had loved for years.
There had always been something impossible about Soren.
He could give everything except control.
Even when he was afraid, he wanted to be the one deciding how everyone else reacted.
I looked at the papers in his hand.
“You still haven’t signed them.”
“No.”
“Why?”
His answer came immediately.
“Because I don’t want a divorce.”
“And what do you want?”
“You.”
The word hit me harder than I expected.
I looked away.
He stepped closer, but stopped before touching me.
“I know I have made mistakes.”
“That sounds very different from saying you were wrong.”
“I was wrong.”
I looked back at him.
Soren Kade did not apologize easily.
He seemed almost uncomfortable saying it.
“I should have told you more,” he continued. “I should have asked before interfering with the job.”
“Should have?”
“I’m trying, Liora.”
I wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
I had wanted to believe him too many times.
“What happens when you come back?”
“We talk.”
“And if I still want the divorce?”
His face hardened for one second.
Then something in him changed.
“I’ll listen.”
“That isn’t the same as signing.”
“No.”
I almost smiled.
“At least you’re honest.”
He looked down at the papers.
“I need one day.”
“You already asked for that.”
“And you didn’t answer.”
I folded my arms.
“Fine.”
His eyes lifted quickly.
“I’m not promising anything. I’m saying we can talk when you return.”
Relief crossed his face before he hid it.
“Thank you.”
He moved toward the door.
“Soren.”
He stopped.
“Be careful tomorrow.”
For the first time that night, he smiled.
Small.
Real.
“I always am.”
Then he left.
I stood alone in the guest room, listening to his footsteps disappear down the hall.
I wanted to call him back.
I almost did.
Instead, I shut the door.
By morning, his side of our bedroom was empty.
By afternoon, his private jet was in the air.
And before sunset, my phone began ringing with calls I would never forget.
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