MY HUSBAND LEFT ME AT 2:43 A.M. TO RESCUE HIS MISTRESS—SO I TOOK BACK THE EMPIRE HE THOUGHT WAS HIS
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Chapter 7 / 15
Chapter 7 - THE BIRTHDAY HE HAD FORGOTTEN
Eleven months earlier, Ronan missed my birthday.
He told me a sponsor had requested an emergency meeting.
I believed him.
I waited at home.
The cake sat untouched.
The candles burned down.
At 11:48 p.m., he sent a text.
Sorry, sweetheart. Long night. Love you.
I had cried quietly in the kitchen.
Then blown out the candles alone.
Now I knew where he'd been.
Kelsey's apartment.
A dinner reservation.
A bottle of champagne.
A photograph taken at 9:12 p.m.
Ronan smiling beside her.
When Rebecca showed me the expense report, I stared.
Then laughed softly.
“Of course.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“Mara?”
I shook my head.
“Nothing.”
May you like
But it wasn't nothing.
It was the moment I finally stopped wondering whether I'd imagined the distance between us.
