Page 162 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

“If you’re done, I have work to do.”

I move forward, ready to walk past her.

She presses her lips together.

I can see the cutting reply poised on the edge of her tongue.

Then she reins herself in. As if adjusting an invisible mask. The anger vanishes almost instantly, replaced by a softness far too controlled to be genuine.

“What happened to us, Dante?”

Her voice is different now. Lower. More intimate.

“We were happy. I understand that Valeria’s return is unsettling you, that you feel guilty for rebuilding your life without her. But we’re a family now. You, me, and this baby. Are you really going to throw all of that away for a woman who disappeared for two years without giving any sign of life?”

The truth hits me with brutal force.

A woman you tried to kill.

And messages you intercepted.

I keep the words locked behind my teeth.

Every sentence spoken now could betray me.

For the moment, she has no certainty. She’s only fishing for information.

“Are you finished? I have a meeting.”

“Did she say something against me?” she finally asks.

I don’t answer.

I wait to see how far she’s willing to go.

“Listen… I don’t know what’s going on, but she seems to resent me for something, and I don’t even know what. I think she can’t stand the place I took in your life. She needs someone to blame. But you know me, Dante. You know who I am.”

She pauses before adding:

“I hope you’re not going to believe accusations without talking to me first. I have the right to know what I’m being accused of, don’t you think?”

She’s got nerve. I’ll give her that.

“Are you done?”

There is something nearly mesmerizing about the way she looks at me in disbelief.

Then, suddenly, her gaze turns hard.

“You’ll regret treating me like this, Dante,” she spits.

Then she turns on her heel and heads for the elevator.

And I think about Valeria. Three floors below, she’s reclaiming her laboratory, her research, her life.

I think about what she endured. What she’s still enduring. About the quiet strength that has always defined her.

I think about all the moments Valeria and I should have shared.