Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT BLAKE FINALLY CHOSE
Blake's mother called him one evening.
“Riley is upset.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“She says you've been avoiding her.”
“I have.”
His mother sighed.
“Blake, that girl has been through enough.”
He looked toward the window.
Then said something he'd never said before.
“So has Kira.”
Silence.
His mother sounded surprised.
“Sweetheart—”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“I spent years treating Riley's pain like an emergency and Kira's pain like an inconvenience.”
His mother didn't answer.
Blake continued.
“I kept telling myself I was helping Riley.”
He laughed bitterly.
“But I was really helping myself feel important.”
His mother sighed.
“Are you saying Riley doesn't matter?”
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“I'm saying she doesn't matter more than everyone else.”
After the call, Blake wrote Kira a letter.
Not asking her to return.
Not begging for forgiveness.
Just acknowledging what he'd done.
He gave it to Sarah with instructions that Kira could read it if she wanted.
Then he began therapy.
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For the first time, he stopped asking how to get his wife back.
And started asking why he'd treated her so badly.
