Chapter 5: The Stranger Who Listened

Nolan told me Marta was a nurse, a stranger who found him on one of the lowest nights of his life and refused to leave him alone with his grief… Continue Reading ⬇️

“She sat with me for hours,” he said. “She didn’t try to fix me. She just listened.”

I gripped the edge of the table.

“And you kept seeing her?”

He nodded, tears gathering in his eyes.

“Not like that, Liv.”

I wanted to believe him. I also wanted to hate him. Both feelings rose in me at once.

Then he said the sentence that hurt more than betrayal.

“She was the only place I could say Emily’s name out loud.”

I could barely breathe.

“You said our daughter’s name to a stranger for ten years?”

His face crumpled.

“Every time I tried talking to you, you cried or left the room. Then I stopped trying.”

“You replaced me.”

“No,” he said, his voice breaking. “I survived.”

Then he reached into his briefcase and pulled out the second velvet box.

“Marta is dying,” he whispered. “I wanted to thank her before goodbye.” Continue Reading ⬇️