Page 32 of The Yoga Teacher

Maybe it had never been real.

Maybe she had loved him far more than he had ever been capable of loving her back.

Tears slipped down her cheeks before she could stop them.

The ache was still there. But beneath it, something quieter.Resolve.

Her marriage might be ending.

But her life wasn’t.

She would move forward—even if it broke her to do it.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Hannah

HANNAH STARED AT the yoga studio. It was Sunday morning. She always came to the class on Sundays.

Yoga had beenhers.She had introduced Daniel to it, encouraged him to come, convinced him it would be good for them, forhim.

It had been stupid of her to share something so precious with Daniel, she understood that now.

She pictured herself stepping inside, rolling out her mat, feeling her palms press into the floor.

Imagined herself in the studio where she had watched her husband fuck another woman.

She swallowed hard.

This was supposed to beherspace,hersanctuary. Now it was tainted. No amount of deep breathing or meditative flow could erase what she had seen.

Hannah pulled out of the parking lot without looking back.

She didn’t have yoga to center herself anymore. She needed to find something else.

She needed something new. Something just forher.

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The moment Hannah stepped inside, she knew she didn’t belong.

The gym smelled like metal and sweat, the air thick with effort. No soft music, no dim lighting, no lavender-scented air diffusers. Just the rhythmic clank of weights, the steady hum of treadmills, and the occasional deep, guttural exhale of someone pushing their limits.

She hovered near the entrance, gripping the strap of her bag, watching the controlled chaos.

She didn’t know what she expected. Maybe something…gentler. Something closer to the studios she was used to, where voices were hushed, where the focus was on breathing and stretching and inner peace.

But this?

This was movement and power and sweat and struggle.

Standing in the entryway, watching men and women move through their workouts, she felt so out of place.

She could leave.

She could go back to Mia’s, crawl under the covers, and let exhaustion pull her under.

Instead, she took a breath and walked toward the front desk.

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