Page 68 of Angels Are Falling

“What about Coastline Kingdom?” I stared at Stefan, at a loss for words.

He froze. I could practically see him sorting through his brain for our plans.

“Your siblings,” I said haughtily. “You must remember them, even if you forgot your wife.”

“Am, come on⁠—”

I put up a hand because I was too hangry for this argument. “You promised to take the kids to Coastline Kingdom tomorrow. Remember?”

He flinched. “Shit. Is that what I told them?”

Fury scratched the walls of my mind. “Yes!”

He leaned back and pressed his palms into his eyes. “It slipped my mind. I can’t. Ruby and I are leaving for LA tonight.”

Ruby again.

“Kai set up a meeting with a potential sponsor tomorrow morning, and then we’re flying out right after.”

I stared at him. “The kids miss you. You promised to spend time with them before you left the country.”

He didn’t meet my eyes. “Can’t you take them? I’m sure Kai would love to go with you.”

I reached for something, anything, that would make the room stop spinning. It ended up being my wine glass. An empty stomach and wine weren’t the best combination, but oh well. “You promised,” I repeated pitifully.

He raked his hand through his hair. “I know. But I can’t blow off this meeting. Please try to understand, Am. I’m doing this for us.”

“Us?” I repeated. As if any of this was what I wanted. “Or are you doing it for yourself?”

He blanched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I dropped my gaze to the wine glass. “Nothing,” I mumbled. “Forget it.”

He waited, but I wouldn’t say more. I couldn’t. He picked up his blazer and ran his hand through his hair, rougher than usual. “I have to shower and pack.”

“You’re leaving right now?” The shock bled into my words. I assumed he’d leave in a couple of hours, not right away. “You just got here. I haven’t even eaten yet.”

Stefan knew how much I hated eating dinner alone. It gave me traumatic flashbacks of my childhood—a ten-year-old child eating alone in a massive home not unlike this one. When Stefan proposed, he promised to always keep me company during dinner; it was even in his wedding vows. How quickly he had forgotten. Then again, we had also vowed fidelity to one another, and that didn’t last a lifetime, did it?

“Can’t you sit with me while I eat? You’re leaving tonight, and I won’t see you for at least a couple of weeks.” I had worked a twelve-hour shift and was starving. But I waited to eat with him anyway. The least he could do was sit with me so we could catch up.

Stefan opened his mouth to answer but was distracted when his phone lit up with more incoming texts. “Uh… Sorry, Am. The car’s picking me up in a few minutes.”

“I’ll eat fast. Fifteen minutes, tops.” I felt pathetic, practically begging my husband to spend fifteen minutes with me.

He sighed. “I wish I could, but I still have to shower and pack. Sorry, baby.” He planted another kiss on my temple. “We’ll do something when I’m back. I love you.”

It was the first time I didn’t have the heart to return the words. “Okay.” I pushed the word out painfully from between my lips, even though I felt the tiny crack of my heart breaking. The sharp pain spread through my chest as he walked away, engrossed in his phone.

I stabbed my fork into the duck, the skin now limp and sad. I brought it to my lips, but it tasted bland. I stared at the duck on my plate until my vision blurred, until I could no longer distinguish between food and flesh, between the table and the hands that set it. I dropped the fork with a clank.

How was this my life? I had done everything to claw out of my lonely world. Now, I was back to square one.

Though I had been hungry for hours, I suddenly had no appetite. I left the room and stepped outside for some fresh air. I made my way toward the water. It was neutral territory for our waterfront home, since doors from both wings connected to the beach.

The common space reflected both their tastes.

Stefan had a background in photography and an eye for aesthetics. Two carefully selected sculptures with clean lines created a path to the water, while designer lanterns lit the way. LED lights shone beneath the sculptures to create a sophisticated look.