Elena’s bruises faded slower than the headlines, but they faded.
She reopened our company under her own name, and I became the man who brought her coffee, reviewed contracts, and never touched her without asking.
One evening, she leaned into my shoulder as the sun turned the water gold.
“I thought you came home too late,” she whispered.
I kissed her hand.
“No,” I said. “I came home in time to prove you were never alone.”
