Traffic was light, for once.
Chloe kept one hand on the wheel and one eye on Carter through the rearview mirror. He hummed the ABC song, his sock-clad feet swinging beneath his car seat as if the universe hadn't cracked open just hours ago.
The morning rush was its usual blur of spilled milk, forgotten crayons, and herding a distracted four-year-old into clean clothes. Familiar chaos. She clung to it.
"You'll be good for Miss Belle?" she asked gently.
"I always am," Carter grinned. Then, more quietly, "Is Daddy picking me up today?"
Chloe's hands tensed on the steering wheel.
"Not today, baby. He's… busy."
It wasn't a lie. Not the full truth either. But how do you explain to a child that the castle you all lived in cracked right down the middle overnight?
They pulled into the curb outside the learning center. Carter kissed her cheek without prompting—an old soul in a tiny body. She watched him walk through the gates, backpack bouncing, before exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
By the time she got to work, the smile was back in place. The one that said, I'm fine. Just tired. I'm always tired.
The coffee machine buzzed. Her inbox dinged. And Kevin's silence stretched longer.
She stared at her phone. No apology. No denial. Not even a lazy excuse.
For a moment, Chloe thought about confronting him. Saying everything she'd swallowed over the past year. The resentment. The loneliness. The slow erosion of who they used to be. But the truth felt heavier than rage—it felt like surrender. And she wasn't ready to fall yet.
Not here. Not at the office copy machine.
So she filed the betrayal next to overdue invoices and unmet dreams. Somewhere just out of reach.
For now.