Riley POV
“Give me one honest reason to stay.”
The words remained between us.
Luca stood only a few feet away, but the silence made him feel farther than he had ever been. My suitcase rested near the wardrobe. The new job offer remained open on my laptop. Everything around us showed that this was no longer another argument we could leave unfinished and pretend to forget by morning.
I was asking him for one reason.
Not Sophie.
Not Leo and Max.
Not the house.
Him.
Luca looked at me as though the answer existed inside him but reaching it would cost too much.
I waited.
His phone continued vibrating on the desk.
Neither of us looked toward it.
Finally, he said, “The children need you.”
The pain came quietly.
It was not sharp this time.
It felt tired.
I had expected that answer,
