Page 210 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

I can see it too now. Our life here. Surrounded by friends and family, laughter, children running through the garden, and long summer evenings by the pool.

“Okay,” I tell him.

After the tour, he takes me to lunch at a restaurant he has partially privatized for the occasion.

We eat in a secluded private room, far from the noise, as though the entire world had been instructed to leave us alone today.

When we return to the manor, we settle onto the couch.

Dante starts sorting through the mail he had forwarded here. Bills, files, thick envelopes he opens absentmindedly.

Then, as he sets one of them on the coffee table, I notice something impossible.

My old phone number.

The one I had before I disappeared.

Still active.

I freeze for a second.

A painful ache moves through me at the realization that he kept this other trace of my existence. Little by little, I’m understanding just how hard he fought to keep me alive in his world.

Curiosity takes over.

“Do you still have the SIM card from my old phone?”

I’m almost certain he’s going to say no.

Instead, he gets up without a word, retrieves his wallet, and pulls out a small plastic SIM card from my old carrier.

He avoids my gaze as he hands it to me.

I take it gently, remove the chip from my current phone, and replace it with the old one.

Beside me, Dante is perfectly still.

Too still.

I dial my old voicemail.

An automated voice informs me that I have messages waiting.

A lot of messages.

I start listening.

There are dozens of them.

All from Dante.

In the first ones, he’s still searching for me. Still worried. Still refusing to understand.

“Where are you?”

“Please call me back.”

“Valeria… answer me.”