Page 111 of The Yoga Teacher

“You always talked about your wife like she made you better,” she said, her tone flat. “I have to agree.”

He flinched.

And then he walked out.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Hannah

HER PHONE RANG just as she was stepping out of the shower.

She almost let it go to voicemail but she wrapped the towel tighter around herself and answered.

“Hello?”

There was a pause. A breath.

“It’s me.”

Her whole body went still.

Daniel.

His voice was low. Rough. Like he hadn’t used it in a while.

She said nothing. Not hello. Not how dare you. Just stood there, dripping, heart thudding hard in her chest.

“I won’t keep you,” he said. “I just… I wanted to tell you something directly. Not through paperwork. Not through your lawyer.”

She stayed quiet.

“The house,” he said, voice steady but soft. “It’s yours now.”

“I paid off the mortgage,” he said. “Transferred the deed. You should be getting the paperwork soon. Maybe already did.”

Her throat closed around something sharp. “Why?”

A long pause.

He didn’t answer at first. Just breathed. “Because it should have been yours all along.”

She didn’t want to feel anything. Not gratitude. Not pity. Not this strange, dull ache that kept rising behind her ribs like her body was mourning something it hadn't even lost.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. But it came out thin. Hollow.

“I did have to,” he said.

The silence between them stretched.

“I’m not asking for anything,” he added. “I just wanted to say it out loud. That I know what I broke. And I know what I never deserved.”

Her hand clenched around the towel at her chest.

He sounded far away. Not just in distance—but in time. Like this voice belonged to a man she used to know. Someone who had learned how to speak gently too late.

“I just… I wanted you to have something solid,” he said. “Something that you could count on.”

Her vision blurred. She blinked hard.

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