Chapter 290
Mia’s POV
We walked silently to the car.
The cool night air hit my face like a slap, cutting through the fog of adrenaline.
Thomas drove without asking for directions. I needed the silence. His hands gripped the steering wheel.
I sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window at the flickering city lights. The familiar streets of Manhattan blurred past, but I felt disconnected from it all, like I was watching someone else’s life through glass.
The twins chatted softly in the backseat, processing their first cruise experience.
“Mama, why did that lady say mean things about us?” Alexander’s voice was small, confused.
“Some people say mean things when they’re unhappy with their own lives,” I replied, my voice steadier than I felt. “It doesn’t mean what they say is true p>
“Did we do something wrong?” Alexander asked.
“No, sweetheart. You two were perfect tonight. I’m proud of how brave you both were p>
In the rearview mirror, I saw Thomas’s eyes meet mine briefly. T
After returning home, Thomas helped me get the children ready for bed while I sat on the sofa still wearing my formal dress, trying to process everything that had just happened.
I felt detached from my own body, like I was floating somewhere above the scene, watching this woman in an expensive gown sitting motionless while her life fell apart around her.
Gas padded over and rested his golden head on my lap. I stroked his fur mechanically, grateful for his steady presence.
From the twins’ room, I could hear Thomas’s gentle voice reading their bedtime story, the familiar cadence of ” The Very Hungry Caterpillar” drifting down the hallway. It was a sound that usually brought me comfort, but tonight it only emphasized how surreal everything felt.
My phone buzzed with notifications. I ignored them all.
The expensive dress felt like a costume now, and the careful makeup and styled hair. I wanted to wash it all off.
Thomas emerged from the twins’ room, closing the door quietly behind him. He’d loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves, looking rumpled and tired but still handsome in the dim light.
“They’re asleep,” he said softly, settling onto the coffee table across from me so we were face to face.” Alexander asked if the man who sent them presents was a nice man or a mean man. I told him that was a question for grown-ups to figure out p>
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Thomas reached forward and took my hands in his, his thumbs tracing gentle circles across my knuckles. “Mia p>
I looked at him.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
His brow furrowed in confusion. “For what p>
“For bringing you into this mess p>
“It’s not your fault.” His hands tightened around mine. “Don’t apologize for something that isn’t your fault p>
“Mia, It’s Kyle who has been actively deceiving you. None of that is on you p>
But it felt like it was. It felt like I’d failed from all the beginning.
Thomas moved from the coffee table to the sofa beside me, pulling me against his chest. His shirt was soft beneath my cheek, and he smelled like expensive cologne mixed with the lingering scent of sea air from the ship.
I thought about that night four years ago when Kyle had simply vanished. The panic, the police reports, the gradual acceptance that he was gone. The lonely nights when the twins were newborns and I’d held them both, wondering how I was going to raise them alone.
I’d done it, though. Somehow, I’d built a life for us.
The tears came then. Not the angry tears from earlier, or the shocked tears on the ship, but something else.
Thomas held me tightly, and I finally let out a sob that seemed to come from somewhere deep in my chest.
“It’s okay,” Thomas murmured against my hair.
When the tears finally subsided, I felt hollow but cleaner. Like a wound that had finally been properly cleaned and could begin to heal.
“Better?” Thomas asked gently.
I nodded against his chest. “Better p>
“Now we get some sleep,” Thomas said, standing and extending his hand to help me up.
He was right.