A New Chapter, A New Wife

us architecture fellowship, pouring everything into my work, but my thoughts were always t

e, the way her eyes would light up. I drove my rental car straight to the Jenkins' house, th

adn' t felt in years. The house looked the same, but there was a blue r

d through the living room wind

baby, a tiny thing wrapped in a yellow blanket. And sitting next to her, with hi

was a painting that made no sense. Sarah,

eet were glued to the spot. The front door was slightly ajar, and their voices drifted out into the qui

" Mark' s voice was low, laced w

apped up in his own little world. He probably thinks I' ve jus

laugh f

came back and saw this? The drama. He' d make it a

ted. They were

mooth and confident. "We did the right thing, keeping thi

. They hadn' t just moved on. They had conspired against me. They had hidden their relationship, their ma

ng me she missed me, that she couldn't wait for me to be back. She' d promised

g toward a future she had already dismantled and thrown away. I

preservation. There was nothing left for me here. The love I thought w

, a genuine, happy smile I realized I hadn't seen in a long time. Then she kissed th

passed judgment on me. I was a nuisance, a child. My feelings were an incon

ins called me his other kid. We never put a formal label on it, but it was understood. We were

nd I was the only one who hadn't seen it. She had kept me in a holding pattern

g. I sent her a text, my last desperate at

. On my way

. Her smile vanished. She showed the screen to Mark, a f

one b

Running some errands right now

with her husband and her child, telling me she was out. The coldness of it was absolute