Page 94 of The Yoga Teacher

For a long time, he hadn’t known the difference. The shame of being found out had tangled with the shame of his actions until they felt like the same thing.

But now?

Now, he knew.

I regret all of it. Even if she never found out, I would still regret it. I would still be here, knowing I had taken something perfect and tainted it.

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“She’s getting better every year,” he said, voice hoarse. “Wiser. More confident. More sure of what she wants, of who she is.” His throat ached. “She was always beautiful, but now? She’s—radiant.” He shook his head, exhaling sharply. “It’s not just about how she looks. It’s about how she carries herself. She’s more stunning at thirty than she was at twenty-five, and I know—” His voice caught. “I know she’s only going to keep getting better.”

The words sat between them.

Dr. Ellis studied him. “You see your wife growing more into herself every year, and yet, you’re terrified of aging.”

Daniel nodded.

She leaned forward slightly. “Why is that?”

His chest tightened.

Dr. Ellis kept her voice even. “When you look at yourself?” She tilted her head. “What do you see?”

Daniel’s pulse throbbed against his skull.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Swallowed.

Dr. Ellis didn’t push. Just let him sit in it.

And then, finally, the words came, slow and fractured.

“I see… less.”

His own voice knocked the breath from his lungs.

“I see someone who peaked at twenty-eight and has been scrambling to stay relevant ever since,” he admitted, the truth clawing its way out of him. “I see someone who has to prove he’s still desirable, still young enough to be worth something.” His jaw clenched. “I see my father. Treading water. Panicking over every wrinkle, every sign that he’s getting older, because once he stops being young, once he stops being wanted—” His voice broke. “He doesn’t know who the fuck he is.”

Dr. Ellis exhaled. “And you?”

Daniel shut his eyes.

“I don’t know who I am either.”

The admission sat between them, thick and heavy.

Dr. Ellis nodded slowly. “So maybe that’s where the real work starts.”

Daniel’s hands curled into fists.

Because for the first time, he saw it. Really saw it.

Hannah wasn’t terrified of growing older.

She wasn’t afraid of losing value.

Because she knew—deep in her bones—that she had worth outside of how she looked. Outside of who wanted her.

And Daniel?

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