He grinned.
And as we walked toward the car, I looked at the little bracelet and felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Peace.
Not the kind that comes from believing nothing bad will ever happen.
The kind that comes from understanding that even when something terrible happens, your life doesn’t have to end with it.
I had lost my husband as I knew him.
I had lost the best friend I thought I had.
I had lost the future I once imagined.
But I still had my children.
I still had my mother.
I still had the ability to laugh, to make plans, and to build a life that didn’t depend on someone else’s honesty.
Ryan and Megan had spent months hiding their affair.
They had lied about business trips, invented excuses, exchanged messages, and convinced themselves that they could keep two marriages intact while secretly betraying the people who trusted them.