Chapter 12 - Vivian's Breaking Point| Vivian had imagined a future in which Adrian finally chose her openly.
She had pictured a townhouse in the city, weekends at the coast, and dinners where she would no longer have to pretend that she was merely a colleague. She had imagined meeting Adrian's business partners as his partner, not as a woman who needed to leave before his wife arrived.
She had not imagined the hospital.
She had not imagined a funeral.
And she had certainly not imagined Adrian refusing to answer her calls.
When he finally agreed to meet her, he chose a café near his office. He arrived wearing a dark coat and carrying the exhaustion of a man who had not slept properly in weeks.
Vivian stood.
“Adrian.”
He sat without greeting her.
She lowered herself into the chair opposite him.
“I'm glad you came.”
“Tell me what you remember about the accident.”
Vivian stared at him.
“What?”
“The drive. The conversation. Everything before the crash.”
Her fingers tightened around her cup.
“We've talked about this.”
“No. We've talked about what we're going to tell people. I want to know what actually happened.”
She looked toward the window.
“I was upset about the flight.”
“You told me to hurry.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Sophie was in the car.”
“Of course I knew.”
“You knew the road was wet.”
“I wasn't driving.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“That's the answer you keep giving.”
“Because it's true!”
Several customers glanced toward them.
Vivian lowered her voice.
“You chose to accelerate. I didn't make you do that.”
“No. You didn't.”
She looked startled by his agreement.
“Then what are you accusing me of?”
“Nothing. I'm asking you to stop pretending this was just bad weather.”
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
“I never wanted Sophie to die.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“I don't know what I know anymore.”
She reached across the table, but he moved his hand away.
Vivian withdrew hers.
“Are you leaving me?”
The question hung between them.
Adrian looked exhausted.
“I don't know.”
“You promised me we would have a future.”
“I promised a lot of things.”
“You told me Claire didn't understand you.”
“She didn't understand because I lied to her.”
Vivian flinched.
“You said your marriage was already over.”
“It wasn't.”
“You said you were going to leave.”
“I kept saying I would.”
Her voice rose.
“So now everything is my fault?”
“No. That's the point. It isn't all your fault. It isn't all mine in the way you want it to be, either. We both made choices, and Sophie was the one who couldn't walk away from them.”
Vivian began to cry.
“I loved you.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I loved the way I felt when I was with you. I thought that was the same thing.”
She stared at him as if he had struck her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I don't know whether we ever built anything real. We built a secret and called it a future.”
He stood.
Vivian caught his sleeve.
“Don't leave me alone with this.”
He gently freed himself.
“You haven't been alone. You've had me protecting you for years.”
“And now?”
“Now I have to stop.”
He walked out of the café.
Vivian remained at the table, crying into her hands.
For the first time, she understood that the secret relationship she had fought so hard to preserve had never made her secure. It had made her dependent on a man who was himself dependent on denial.
She had wanted Adrian to choose her.
He had.
May you like
Again and again.
And the choice had cost more than either of them could ever repay.
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