"He wasn''t wrong," Hannah thought, a bitter taste in her mouth. "I was the one who was wrong toe here."


    The image of Sandra at the hospital earlier that day shed through her mind- the ne she was wearing, the same one Lionel had described to her once. Her heart gave a painful twitch.


    The weather had turned without warning. What had been a perfectly fine day was now overcast, and a light, drizzling rain began to streak down the restaurant window.


    "Lionel, I told you before," Hannah said, her voiceced with exhaustion. "Even though we''re getting a divorce, I''ll still y my part in front of your grandmother. So please, I''m begging you, stop torturing me like this."


    She let out a heavy sigh. "I''m a person, too. I get tired, you know? You love her, and I never tried to stop you. I''ve already stepped aside. What more do you want from me?"


    Her shoulders slumped, and she leaned back heavily against the cushioned booth, her gaze lost in the gray sky outside.


    "Is that it? Are you so afraid of the family shunning you for a divorce that you want to stay married to me while you carry on with Sandra? Not even a saint could manage that! You can''t just trample all over my feelings because I loved you. Besides," she added, her voice dropping to a t, even tone, "I don''t love you anymore."


    I don''t love you anymore.


    She no longer had to brace herself to say those words. The courage she once needed to summon was gone, reced by a calm certainty. She had finally let go.


    She couldn''t understand why Lionel refused to leave her in peace, why he seemed so determined to torment her.


    Lionel''s expression darkened.


    "I''ve told you, there''s nothing going on between Sandra and me. You''re the one who keeps misunderstanding." He picked up his ss of red wine and downed it in one go. "Owen made a mistake with the reservation tonight. That''s all. I just wanted to have a nice dinner with you and go home together. You''re reading too much into it."


    Hannah closed her eyes in despair, unwilling to listen to any more of his excuses. The sound of cheerful music and the chatter of other diners only highlighted how out of ce they were, trapped in their own silent war.


    His casual selfishness made her chest tighten with a suffocating anger. She grabbed her own wine ss and began to gulp it down.


    "Don''t drink like that," Lionel started, reaching out to stop her, but his phone rang, cutting him off.


    That special ringtone. Nothing going on, he''d said.


    "Answer it Hannah said, seeing his


    hesitation. "We''re in public. Don''t e


    disturb everyone else” When


    didn''t move she reached over and tapped the screen for him.


    "Lionel!"


    The delicate, frail voice that came through the speaker was so sickeningly sweet it made Hannah want to vomit.


    His face grim, Lionel snatched the phone. As he listened, his expression shifted to one of rm, and he shot to his feet ready to leave. He took one step, then paused.


    Hannah stared out the window at her reflection, swirling thest of the wine in her ss. "Go," she said coolly you wouldn''t want


    something to happen and have it be all my fault."


    It had happened once before. She had clung to him, refusing to let him go, and it had ended in a terrible fight.


    She never tried to stop him after that.


    Every time he left, she felt a little more lost.


    Every time he left, her heart grew a little colder.


    An endless cycle of disappointment and heartbreak had led them to this point.


    Lionel looked at her reflection in the ss, saw the pain etched on her face, and hesitated for a long moment. Then, hardening his resolve, he turned and walked away.


    Hannah watched his disappearing image in the window as tears finally streamed down her cheeks.