I needed air.
I needed clarity.
And more than anything, I needed a plan.
That’s how I ended up sitting across from Henry Silva in the quiet corner of a downtown restaurant. The kind of place where no one looked too closely at who you were or why you were there.
Henry hadn’t changed much. Sharp suit, sharper eyes, and that steady calm he always carried, the kind that made people trust him even when they shouldn’t. Once, years ago, I had trusted him with my heart. Now, I was trusting him with my freedom.
“I didn’t mean to scare you earlier,” Henry said, his fingers wrapped around the zarf of his coffee cup. He barely touched it yet.
“You didn’t scare me,” I murmured, though my hands still trembled faintly around the rim of my cup. “I just… wasn’t expecting you.”
He nodded, eyes catching mine. “I know. I wouldn’t expect that either. But when I saw your name on the case file… I couldn’t stay detached. I wanted to handle it myself.”
Silence fell between us, but it wasn’t heavy. It was the kind of silence that once defined us—when a glance said more than hours of conversation ever could. For a fleeting moment, I felt like the younger version of myself, the girl who used to believe love could be enough.
I wrapped my hands around the glass of water in front of me, trying to stop them from trembling. “He didn’t even deny it, Henry. He looked me in the eye and basically said I was… boring. That Lavinia makes him feel alive.”
“You did the right thing, Erin,” he said, his voice low but firm, scanning the documents I’d brought along. “Filing now protects you. The longer you wait, the more leverage Trevor gets.”
Henry’s jaw tightened. For a second, the polished lawyer facade slipped, and I caught a flash of the man I used to know—the one who hated seeing me hurt.
My throat tightened, tears pressing against the corners of my eyes. I swallowed them back, the way I always did.
“Henry…” My voice cracked before I could stop it.
“You’re not boring,” he said, more sharply than I expected. His gaze softened a beat later. “He’s trying to make you doubt yourself so you’ll back down. But you’re stronger than that.”
Stronger. The word settled in me like an anchor. I wanted to believe it. We spent the next half hour going over paperwork, strategies, and the ugly logistics of unraveling a marriage.
He was all business, but every so often, his eyes lingered a little too long, his tone softened a little too much. And then the bell over the café door jingled, and I felt the air shift before I even looked up.
Trevor.
He stood at the entrance, his expression unreadable as his gaze landed on us—on me, sitting across from Henry.The moment stretched, thick with unsaid words.
My heart raced. I hadn’t wanted him to follow me, hadn’t even cared if he noticed I was gone. But now, here he was, and the sight of Henry across from me was a truth I couldn’t hide.
And for the first time tonight, it wasn’t betrayal or humiliation that burned in Trevor’s eyes. It was jealousy.
He might have lost me tonight—but he wasn’t about to let me go without treating his wounded ego.
