Page 82 of My Only

I smiled back. “We’re cool.”

But we weren’t.

I held his hand tighter than usual that night, my heart full of concern and my mind tangled in doubt.

And as we got into the car, one question played over and over in my mind.

Should I be worried about Harper?

CHAPTER 10

NOW – EARLY SUMMER 2023… PRESENT DAY

Hassani

The wood creaked beneath my feet as I made my way downstairs. Sleep had been shit—two nights of reaching for my wife only to find nothing but cold sheets. She hadn’t come back to our bed since the night she told me she wanted a divorce. And I still couldn’t accept that she meant it.

Despite my many attempts to talk to her yesterday via phone calls, we hadn’t spoken since she hit me with those four words…

I want a divorce.

Every time I replayed them, it felt like a knife to the chest. My heart clenched, aching at the thought of her really meaning it.

No. There was no way.

We literally agreed… this was it.

No take-backs.

Forever us.

It was a running inside joke between us, but I meant it. At the altar, in every fight, every disagreement. I’d never wavered.

But two nights in a row of sleeping apart? I didn’t know what to think.

The smell of breakfast drifted through the air, reassuring me that she was at least still here. That I’d get to see her before heading into the city for work. And I needed to see her.

Last night was another hard one for me.

The aroma of dinner had still lingered when I got home, which let me know she’d been here. But the house had been dark. She hadn’t been waiting for me.

Knowing she was in the guest bedroom, I’d gone straight there after my shower. The door was closed, no light spilling from underneath, but I knew she was inside. I turned the knob.

Locked.

A pang shot through my chest.

“Ayla.” My voice was calm, low, as I spoke to the door’s surface.

No answer.

I tried again. “Baby, you in there?”

“I am.”

I paused, inhaling slowly, afraid to ask my next question. “Can you open the door for me, please?”

A beat of silence. Then…

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