Adrian came home at 1:17 in the morning.

I was awake.

Not waiting for him.

Packing.

The suitcase on the bed made him stop at the bedroom door.

“Where are you going?”

“Laura’s place for a few days.”

His eyes moved toward the clothes.

“You’re leaving because I went out with Vanessa?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

I zipped the suitcase.

“That’s the problem, Adrian. You still think this is about tonight.”

He stepped in front of me.

“Claire, talk to me.”

I almost smiled.

For years, that was exactly what I had wanted him to say.

Now it came too late.

“There’s nothing left to discuss.”

His face hardened.

“You’re being ridiculous.”

Normally, that sentence would have started a fight.

This time I simply nodded.

“Maybe.”

I walked around him.

That was when he grabbed my suitcase.

“You’re not leaving like this.”

I looked at his hand.

“Let go.”

Something in my voice made him release it immediately.

The next morning, Laura sent the divorce papers to his office.

At 10:06, Adrian called me.

At 10:08, again.

By eleven, there were fourteen missed calls.

Then came a message.

“This isn’t funny.”

Another.

“Come home. We’ll talk.”

Then:

“I already told Vanessa I won’t see her anymore.”

I stared at that sentence longer than the others.

Not because it changed my mind.

Because it proved he still didn’t understand.

He thought removing Vanessa would magically restore the woman I had been before her.

At noon, he appeared outside Laura’s office.

His tie was crooked.

His eyes were red.

I had never seen Adrian look so unsettled.

He placed the divorce agreement on the table.

“I’m not signing.”

Laura leaned back.

“That’s your choice. The process can continue.”

He ignored her.

His eyes stayed on me.

“Claire, tell me what you want.”

For years, I could have answered that question instantly.

Come home earlier.

Choose me once.

Remember when I’m sick.

Stop making me compete with another woman.

But now?

“I want the divorce.”

His face went pale.

“No. What do you really want?”

“That.”

He stared at me as though I had spoken in another language.

Then my phone rang.

Hospital administration.

I answered.

After listening for several seconds, I stood.

“What happened?” Adrian asked.

I picked up my bag.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

His expression changed instantly.

“Is this about your hospitalization?”

I stopped.

He had finally asked the question.

Seven days too late.

I looked at him.

“You never even asked why I was there.”

Silence filled the room.

And suddenly, Adrian looked afraid.

Because he realized there was something about those seven days he didn’t know.

Something important.

But before he could speak, Laura quietly placed another document on the table.

Adrian looked down.

His eyes froze on the hospital letterhead.

Then on the date.

And finally on one sentence near the bottom.

He raised his head slowly.

“Claire…”

His voice was barely audible.

“What happened to you while I was with Vanessa?”