Page 115 of The Hotel Room

“We’ll figure it out,” she said softly.

Her words were like a balm, but James knew better than to let himself off the hook too easily. He still had so much to prove.

As they stood there, the faint sound of Lily’s laughter drifted in from the living room. It wasn’t just about proving himself anymore. It was about being the man his family needed. The husband Kate deserved. And this—this choice, this sacrifice—was only the beginning.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Kate

Kate sat on the edge of the bed, her hands resting lightly on her lap. The morning sun filtered through the curtains, casting soft golden streaks across the room. She stared down at her left hand, at the ring that had been there for nearly half her life.

Her wedding ring.

It was tight now, too tight. Her fingers were beginning to swell with the pregnancy, the way they always did around this time. She knew it was time to take it off, at least until after the baby was born.

But the thought filled her with an odd, hollow ache.

Carefully, she twisted the ring, feeling the familiar tug of metal against her skin. It slid off more easily than she expected, leaving behind a faint indentation, a pale circle that marked the place it had occupied for so many years.

She set it gently on the nightstand, her hand suddenly feeling strange and bare.

How odd, she thought, not to be wearing it.

Even when her world had fallen apart—even when James had cheated, and she’d packed her bags and taken the kids to Leah’s—she’d never considered taking it off. She hadn’t even thought about it.

If she had, she probably would have removed it. Should have, maybe. But it was such an unconscious part of her routine, so deeply ingrained, that the idea hadn’t crossed her mind.

She’d taken it off to sleep, sure. But every morning, it was the first thing she’d put on, sliding it back onto her finger as naturally as brushing her teeth. She’d taken it off to wash up, to shower, to knead dough in the kitchen—but she always put it back on.

So when she’d left James—when she’d slammed the door on their life together—she hadn’t just left her ring on her finger. She’dput it back onhundreds of times, day after day, without even thinking.

The weight of that realization made her chest tighten, her throat constricting against the swell of emotion.

Her eyes drifted to the ring, small and unassuming on the nightstand, its gold band glinting softly in the sunlight.

James had taken his off.

He had slipped it from his finger, made himself appear like a single man, free of obligations and vows. Picturing it now—his bare ring finger pressing against the curve of someone else’s body, gripping that naked waist, her skin unfamiliar and smooth—Kate’s stomach churned violently.

Her heart ached, sharp and bitter, at the memory she couldn’t erase.

The betrayal still felt raw sometimes, like a wound that refused to fully scab over. It wasn’t just the act itself. It was what it represented—how easily he had set aside the life they had built, the promises they had made.

And yet…

She looked at the indent on her finger, the pale band of skin that still held the shape of the ring even when it was gone.

She had never truly taken it off. Not in the way that mattered.

She had worn it when she was furious with him. Worn it when she cried herself to sleep at Leah’s. Worn it even when she told herself she didn’t know if they had a future together.

Because no matter how much he had hurt her, no matter how much she wanted to hate him for what he had done, some part of her still clung to the life they had built.

The ring wasn’t just a piece of jewelry. It was part of her.

Kate closed her eyes, exhaling shakily. She pressed her thumb to the faint mark on her finger, tracing it lightly as her thoughts spiraled.

How could something so small, so simple, hold so much weight?

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