Page 155 of The Yoga Teacher

Dr. Ellis nodded. “That makes sense.”

Hannah finally turned to Daniel. He looked like he hadn’t slept. His jaw was tight. Hands clasped too tightly between his knees.

Good.

She took a breath. “Start with why.”

Daniel’s voice was hoarse. “I’ve gone over it a thousand ways, Hannah. None of them make it make sense.”

“Try.”

He looked down. Swallowed.

“I was scared,” he said. “Of aging. Of fading. Of becoming irrelevant. Turning thirty felt like it was a slow death. At work, I was losing ground to guys who used slang I had to Google. I didn’t feel useful. Or sharp. I felt like I was being edged out by people like Tristan.”

The name hit her like a pebble to the sternum—small, unexpected, but jarring.

Her spine went stiff. Just for a second. A flash of memory—sweat-slick skin, unfamiliar hands, the sound of her own laugh in the dark.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t react. Not outwardly.

But inside, something twisted.

Of all the names.

She crossed one leg over the other, slowly, deliberately, and willed her voice to stay calm.

“Go on,” she said.

Daniel exhaled. “And then Sienna made me feel… visible. Like I still mattered. Like I still had something people wanted.”

His mouth twisted. “And I knew. I knew it didn’t mean anything. But that made it worse. Because I still did it.”

He looked at her, eyes rimmed red.

“I didn’t cheat because I stopped loving you. I cheated because I stopped knowing who I was when I wasn’t being admired.”

Hannah tilted her head. “So you traded our life for a hit of validation.”

Daniel winced. “Yes.”

She let that sit. Let the shame hum in the air.

Daniel rubbed a hand over his face. “My father used to say men only have value if someone young wants them. I thought I’d unlearned it. Turns out I’d just buried it.”

“You built a marriage with me,” she said. “But the second your self-worth got shaky, you went running to the worst lesson you’d ever been taught.”

“I know.”

“No, Daniel. Youdon’tknow. You say you wanted to feel seen—but I was there.Isaw you. Every day. I backed you. I believed in you even when you didn’t.”

Her voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.

Daniel’s head dropped. His shoulders caved in.

Good, she thought again. Sit in it.

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