Chapter 9 - Three Questions, One Last Answer
One year after I left Dominic, he asked me to meet him at the same restaurant where I had met Sienna.
The table was the same.
The chair was the same.
Even the afternoon light looked the same.
Dominic stood when I entered.
He wore a dark suit.
No tie.
His hands were shaking.
I noticed.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
“I deserve that.”
I sat.
He remained standing.
“I have three questions.”
My heart skipped.
“You remembered.”
“I never forgot.”
He reached into his pocket.
He didn't take out a ring.
He took out a piece of paper.
“My first question.”
He looked at me.
“Do you still love me?”
I smiled faintly.
“That isn't one of my questions.”
“I know.”
“Then that's cheating.”
He laughed.
“I've spent a year trying to learn how you think.”
He sat.
“Fine.”
He slid the paper toward me.
Three questions.
Not answers.
Questions.
What do I need to do to earn your trust?
What kind of husband do you want?
What kind of future do you want?
I looked up.
“I don't know.”
He nodded.
“That's okay.”
“You wrote questions instead of answers.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because seven years ago, I thought knowing facts about me was enough.”
He leaned forward.
“Now I know the only answers that matter are the ones we build together.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
He continued.
“I can't undo what I did.”
“No.”
“I can't promise I'll never fail again.”
“No.”
“But I can promise I'll never take your forgiveness for granted again.”
Silence.
Then I reached into my purse.
I took out my old wedding ring.
The platinum band.
The same one I had pushed across the table.
I placed it between us.
Dominic stared.
“You kept it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn't ready to decide what it meant.”
He looked at the ring.
Then at me.
“What does it mean now?”
I smiled.
“It means I survived you.”
He looked hurt.
“And?”
“It also means I survived without you.”
His eyes filled.
“And?”
I took a breath.
“And maybe now I can choose you.”
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered, “Are you saying—”
“Don't ruin it.”
He laughed through tears.
I picked up the ring.
But I didn't put it on.
Not yet.
Instead, I stood.
He stood too.
I walked around the table.
Then I took his hand.
“Come home.”
He froze.
“Where?”
“With us.”
He stared at me.
“With Lily?”
“Yes.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
He pulled me into his arms.
I let him.
But this time, it wasn't surrender.
It was choice.
When we returned home, Lily was waiting.
She saw the ring.
“Are you getting married?”
Dominic laughed.
“We already did.”
She frowned.
“Then why is Viv wearing the ring again?”
I looked at Dominic.
“Because your father finally learned how to ask permission.”
Lily laughed.
“Good.”
That night, after she went to bed, Dominic and I sat on the balcony.
Chicago glittered beneath us.
“I have something else to tell you.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He reached for my hand.
“I want to have another child.”
I went still.
“Dominic.”
“Not because I need an heir.”
I waited.
“Not because the family expects one.”
He took a breath.
“Because I love the idea of building a family where nobody feels like a secret.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“That would be different.”
“It would.”
“Very different.”
He smiled.
“Then we'll take our time.”
I leaned against him.
For years, I had believed the hardest part of love was staying.
I had been wrong.
May you like
Sometimes the hardest part was leaving.
And sometimes the bravest part was returning only after you knew you could stand alone.
