TOWARD THE DISTANCE Chapter 6

That evening, it rained. A sudden, violent downpour that came out of nowhere and turned the city grey.

Elena had been sick since the moment they got home. Cade wanted to come close — to hold her, comfort her, do all the things a husband was supposed to do — but every time he got near, the smell of Lily's perfume rolled off him like a wave, and Elena's stomach lurched.

"Don't touch me," she said. "The smell makes it worse."

Cade sniffed his own sleeve, confused. "Maybe it's my cologne? I'll stop wearing it. I'll switch to something else —"

"Cade." Elena's voice came out sharper than she intended. "It's not your cologne. You know exactly what it is."

He held her gaze for a moment. Then he smiled — gently, apologetically — and said, "Okay. No more cologne. No more of anything. Whatever you need."

Elena locked herself in the bathroom and stared at her reflection under the harsh light.

She didn't recognize the woman looking back at her.

Outside the door, Cade sat on the floor, holding a cup of hot water, waiting for her to come out. He looked worried. He looked like he cared.

And that was exactly what she couldn't understand.

How could he sit there — reeking of another woman, having spent the entire day with her — and still perform this convincingly? How could he look at Elena with such genuine tenderness and feel nothing false about it?

Was it true, what the managers had said? That men like him — men with money, men with power — just did this? That as long as the wife didn't find out, it didn't count as real?

He had the wrong woman. She wasn't naive. She wasn't easy to fool.

And she was done pretending this was survivable.

The next morning, Cade drove her to the hospital. After a full round of tests, the doctor delivered a verdict that was almost funny in its accuracy.

"Psychosomatic gastritis," he said, reading from the chart. "It's caused by severe emotional stress. The patient has experienced a significant emotional shock recently, and her body is reacting to it. That's what's causing the nausea."

Cade turned to Elena, his brow creased. "Elena — has something been bothering you? Something happened? Tell me. I'll fix it."

Elena looked away. "You can't fix this one."

"There's almost nothing in this world I can't fix. Talk to me."

He was right about one thing. There was only one person who could fix this.

Elena almost asked him — the question burned on the tip of her tongue. If she and Lily were both drowning, who would he save first?

But she swallowed it down. Because it didn't matter what he said. People didn't get to hand their survival over to someone else. If you could swim, you saved yourself.

She could swim. She didn't need Cade anymore.

In Norway, under the name Wren Faraway, she had already been accepted to an art school. When she was younger — before Cade, before the wedding, before she gave up everything for a life that turned out to be a lie — she had wanted to be a painter. Now, she was going to paint again. For herself this time.

"How about a movie this afternoon?" Cade suggested on the drive back. "There's a comedy out. It'll make you feel better."

"This afternoon? Don't you have work?"

"I told you. Today is all yours. I said it, and I meant it. I don't go back on my word."

His phone rang.

He glanced at the screen. His whole face changed — just for a second. The irritation he'd been wearing like armor softened into something more complicated. Hesitation. Conflict. Want.

Elena watched the transformation happen in real time.

"Go ahead," she said. "Answer it. Work is important."

"It'll be quick. Five minutes."

"Sure."

Cade started to step outside, but Elena stopped him. "Take it here. I can't understand business talk anyway. There's no reason to hide it from me."

He froze.

Two seconds passed. Then three. Then he answered, and his voice went flat and controlled — the voice of a man trying very hard to sound normal.

"I told you not to call me today. What is it?"

From the other end, Elena could hear it faintly: a woman crying.

Cade's jaw tightened. "Fine. I understand. Wait there."

He hung up. Turned to Elena with an apologetic half-smile.

"Elena, there's an important document that needs my signature. The manager already brought it to the hospital — it's downstairs. I'll sign it and come right back. Thirty minutes, tops."

Elena nodded.

Cade practically ran out of the room.

The doctor smiled kindly. "Mrs. Harrington, your husband really does love you. He dropped everything the moment you needed him."

"Does he?" Elena offered a thin smile back. "Excuse me — I need to use the restroom."

She stepped into the hallway just in time to see Cade at the end of the corridor, too impatient to wait for the elevator, taking the stairs two at a time.

He went down.

She watched him disappear around the corner of the stairwell, then looked at the directory board on the wall.

The floor below them was obstetrics and gynecology.

Elena's phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number.

【Lily: Hi Elena. Sorry about today — he probably can't spend much time with you. One phone call from me, and he comes running. 😊】