Chapter 5

Victor stayed in the bedroom after he told me the baby hadn't done anything wrong.

I knew that was supposed to be the point of the conversation. He wanted me to separate the child from the betrayal, to understand that whatever had happened between him and Mara could no longer be undone simply because I was his wife. He wanted me to see the pregnancy as a responsibility rather than a choice.

I understood that much.

What I couldn't understand was why his responsibility suddenly required me to sacrifice my place beside him.

"I know you're angry," Victor said.

I turned toward him.

"I'm not angry."

His brows drew together. "You don't have to pretend with me."

"I'm not pretending."

That seemed to confuse him more than anger would have.

Victor sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees. He looked exhausted, but there was something else in his expression that I couldn't quite name. Perhaps he expected me to cry. Maybe he was waiting for me to demand that he choose between Mara and me.

Instead, I simply waited.

"I never planned for this to happen," he said finally. "You have to believe that."

I said nothing.

"Mara didn't plan it either. She was scared to tell me because she knew how complicated our situation was."

"Our situation?"

"Our marriage."

The word sounded strange coming from him.

Victor continued before I could respond. "Things haven't been right between us for a while. We've both felt it."

I almost laughed.

He had been distant, and now he was using that distance as evidence that the betrayal was somehow inevitable.

"You were unhappy with me?"

"I didn't say that."

"You said our marriage was already complicated."

"I said we've been struggling."

"Because you were spending your nights with her?"

His face tightened.

"It wasn't like that."

I looked at him.

"Then what was it like?"

Victor didn't answer.

That silence told me enough.

He stood and walked toward the window, staring out at the garden below.

"I can't abandon my child."

"I never asked you to."

"I know."

"Then what exactly are you explaining to me?"

He turned around.

"I need to be there for Mara."

I felt something inside me harden.

"Do you love her?"

Victor stared at me.

"I don't know."

It was the most honest answer he had given me since this began.

I looked away.

At least he hadn't lied.

Victor moved closer. "But I can't just disappear from her life. She's carrying my baby. Whether you and I like it or not, that child is going to be part of my life."

I nodded slowly.

"You're right."

He seemed relieved.

"I knew you'd understand."

I almost smiled at the irony.

Understand.

That was what everyone expected from me.

I had understood when Victor worked late. I had understood when he missed dinners. I had understood when Mara became more involved in his life than a secretary ever should have been. I had understood when he left our anniversary dinner because she needed him.

Now I was expected to understand that another woman was carrying my husband's child.

"Does that mean you'll continue seeing her?" I asked.

Victor looked away.

"I don't know."

The answer was quiet.

"But you just said you need to be there for her."

"I do."

"Then you'll see her."

"Probably."

The word settled between us.

Probably.

Not yes. Not no. Just enough uncertainty to keep me waiting.

Victor walked over and took my hand.

"I need time to figure this out."

I looked at our hands.

"How much time?"

"I don't know."

"A week?"

"Eleanor..."

"A month?"

"I can't give you a timeline."

I slowly pulled my hand away.

He sighed.

"I just want to handle everything properly."

There it was.

The phrase he had been building toward since he walked through the door.

Handle everything properly.

As though our marriage were a business problem. As though Mara's pregnancy were an unexpected complication in a contract. As though I simply needed to wait while Victor arranged his new life into something acceptable.

"And what am I supposed to do while you handle everything?"

He looked at me.

"Give me some time."

"To decide whether you want me?"

His face changed.

"That's not what this is."

"Isn't it?"

"I love you, Eleanor."

The words should have meant something.

Once, they would have been enough to make me forgive almost anything.

But I couldn't stop thinking about the message on his phone, Mara's bracelet, the dinner I had spent alone, and the photograph of the two of them together.

Love had apparently become something Victor could give me while giving another woman everything else.

"I don't want to lose you," he said.

I looked at him for a long moment.

"Then why does it feel like you're asking me to wait while you decide how much of me you still want?"

Victor had no answer.

For the first time, I saw uncertainty in his eyes.

He came closer and touched my cheek.

"I just need you to trust me."

I almost closed my eyes.

Trust.

That word had once been the easiest thing between us.

Now it felt like something he was asking me to provide after giving me every reason not to.

I stepped away from him.

"I hope you get everything you want, Victor."

He stared at me.

"What?"

"I hope you get your family."

He seemed stunned.

"Eleanor..."

"I mean it."

I walked toward the dresser and began removing the jewelry I had worn the night before. My hands were steady as I placed each piece into its box.

Victor watched me.

"I thought you'd be more upset."

"I was."

"And now?"

I looked at him through the mirror.

"Now I'm tired."

He stood there for several seconds, studying my reflection.

Then, slowly, his shoulders relaxed.

"I knew you'd understand."

I almost turned around.

Instead, I kept my eyes on the mirror.

He stepped forward and kissed the top of my head.

"Thank you."

I said nothing.

A few minutes later, Victor left the bedroom.

I waited until I heard the front door close before allowing myself to breathe.

I walked to the window and watched his car disappear down the driveway.

He thought I had forgiven him.

He thought my silence meant acceptance.

He thought I was going to sit quietly in our house while he figured out how to build a family with another woman without completely losing the wife he already had.

He was wrong.

I returned to the bedroom and opened the drawer beneath my clothes. At the back was a folder I hadn't touched in years.

Our marriage certificate.

Our property documents.

Investment records.

Copies of agreements Victor and I had signed during the early years of Sterling Holdings.

I stared at the papers for several seconds.

There were things about our marriage Victor had forgotten.

Things he had never needed to think about because I had always handled them quietly.

I picked up my phone.

There was one person I needed to speak to before I made another move.

I scrolled through my contacts until I found the number.

Marcus Reed — Attorney

My thumb hovered over the screen.

Then I pressed call.

He answered after the second ring.

"Eleanor?"

I looked at the folder on the bed.

"Marcus, I need to discuss my marriage."

There was a brief silence.

"Is everything all right?"

I looked toward the bedroom door Victor had walked through only minutes earlier.

"No," I said quietly. "It isn't."

And for the first time since my husband told me another woman was carrying his child, I wasn't thinking about how to save my marriage.

I was thinking about how to leave it.