Contract marriage: broken vow

back against the wood, exhaling a shaky breath as she replayed the last few minutes in her mind. She had given

e of an empty marriage. She had learned the hard way to rely on herself, to be her own fortress. But as much as sh

aring at her office, always on some pretext of business. And each time,

at her office door as if he'd been there a hundred times

ve you that," she said, her

"I was hoping we could get dinner. No expe

n her chair. "You think a dinner con

y, meeting her gaze.

down, could walk away. But instead, she

dim, and for a moment, Lily felt like they were two strangers on a first date. She had to re

ic that loomed between them. Finally, after the main course was cleared, h

a whisper. "All those years... I want to know what it

ords were raw, unguarded, and she cou

there, but never really there. You were in love with someone else, and I was just... backgrou

e table, brushing hers lightly.

ng her walls up. "Sorry doesn't

I don't expect it to. But I'm here

and found someone different, someone with shadows in his

softly. "I've changed. I don't need you. I

y I want to be here now. Because I finally see you for who you really are. I

, cautious hope flicker within her, but she wasn't ready to let hi

aniel walked her to her car, p

ed. "For giving me this chan

ncerity in his gaze. "One dinner d

ed. "I know. But I'll keep proving myself,

g. She drove away, feeling his words settle in her heart like a quiet, persistent melody. S

er whispered that maybe, just maybe, second chanc