Aria's POV
The trash can makes a loud thunk when I drop the gift inside.
Five hundred dollars' worth of custom cufflinks with our initials carved into real gold, and I'm throwing them away like spoiled milk. My hand shakes as I let go of the velvet box. It lands on top of yesterday's coffee grounds and a banana peel.
"Mrs. Kane, are you alright?"
I spin around. Rosa, our housekeeper, stands in the doorway of my bedroom—no, the guest bedroom. I haven't slept in the master bedroom with my husband in eight months. Not that he's noticed.
"I'm fine, Rosa." I try to smile but my face feels stiff. "What time did Mr. Kane leave this morning?"
Rosa's eyes fill with pity. I hate that look. "Five AM, ma'am. He said he had an important meeting."
Of course he did. Today is October fifteenth. Our fifth wedding anniversary. And Dominic Kane, my husband, the man I've loved since the night we met, couldn't even send me a text message.
I check my phone again. Nothing. No "happy anniversary." No "sorry I left early." Not even a "don't wait up."
Just silence.
The same silence I've lived with for five years.
"Will you be having breakfast here, Mrs. Kane?" Rosa asks gently.
"No." I grab my purse and jacket. "I have somewhere to be."
Rosa nods but doesn't ask where. She's worked for us for three years. She knows better than to ask about my life. Nobody asks about me. I'm just Dominic Kane's wife—the shadow that lives in his penthouse and doesn't cause trouble.
But Rosa doesn't know everything. She doesn't know about the secret that's been eating me alive for four years. The secret that's waiting for me in Brooklyn right now, probably eating cereal and watching cartoons.
My daughter.
The taxi ride to Brooklyn takes forty minutes. I watch Manhattan disappear behind me—all those tall buildings and rich people and the penthouse where I'm supposed to be happy. My phone buzzes. For one stupid second, my heart jumps.
Maybe it's Dominic. Maybe he remembered.
But it's just my mother. I decline the call. I can't deal with Elena Castellano today. Not today.
The cab stops in front of a small apartment building. It's not fancy like Dominic's penthouse. The paint is peeling. There's graffiti on the wall. But when I knock on apartment 3B, the door opens and I hear the most beautiful sound in the world.
"MAMA!"
A little girl with black hair and green eyes launches herself at my legs. I scoop her up, breathing in her smell—syrup and strawberry shampoo and home.
"Hi, baby girl," I whisper into Lily's hair. "Did you miss me?"
"I missed you a million billion!" Lily wraps her arms around my neck so tight I can barely breathe. I don't care. This is the only hug I've gotten in weeks.
My best friend Maya appears in the doorway. She's still in her pajamas, holding a cup of coffee. "She's been waiting by the window since six AM."
Guilt stabs through my chest. I couldn't come yesterday because Dominic had a business dinner I had to attend. The night before that, he brought clients home and I had to play hostess. I haven't seen my daughter in three days.
Three days is too long.
"I'm sorry," I tell Maya as Lily runs back inside, yelling something about showing me her new drawing.
Maya just shakes her head. "How long are you going to keep doing this, Aria? Living two lives is killing you."
"I know." My voice comes out small.
"Does he know about her yet?"
"No."
"It's been four years—"
"He didn't want her!" The words burst out of me, louder than I meant. "When I told him I was pregnant, he looked relieved when I lost the baby. He was relieved, Maya. How am I supposed to tell him she's alive when he was happy she was gone?"
Maya's face softens. "Oh, honey."
But before she can say more, my phone buzzes again. This time it's a text from my mother that makes my blood run cold:
"Celeste is coming home. She needs a place to stay. I told Dominic you wouldn't mind. She'll be at your penthouse this evening. Try to be welcoming to your sister."
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
My sister. Celeste. The beautiful, talented, perfect daughter my mother actually loves. The woman Dominic was in love with before he married me. The reason my husband can barely look at me—because every time he does, he remembers I'm not her.
"Mama, look!" Lily runs back with a drawing. It's our family—a stick figure woman with yellow hair (me, apparently) and a smaller stick figure with black hair (her). No daddy figure. Because Lily doesn't have a daddy. I made sure of that.
"It's beautiful, sweet—"
My phone rings. Not a text this time. A call from Dominic. My husband who hasn't called me in two months is suddenly calling me now?
I answer. "Hello?"
"Aria." His voice is cold and professional, like I'm one of his employees. "Your mother called. Celeste needs to stay with us for a while. I said yes. I assume that's fine?"
He didn't ask. He told me. He made a decision about our home—about bringing his ex-girlfriend into our house—without asking me first.
"For how long?" My voice sounds far away.
"A few days. Maybe a week. She's having some career troubles."
Career troubles. Celeste is a famous violinist. She chose her career over Dominic eight years ago, breaking his heart. And now she's coming back. Coming to my home. To my husband.
"Aria? Are you there?"
Something inside me breaks. Not loudly. Not dramatically. Just a quiet crack, like ice finally giving up after too much weight.
"I'm here," I say softly.
"Good. I'll see you tonight. We should all have dinner together. Like a family."
He hangs up without saying goodbye. Without saying happy anniversary. Without saying anything that matters.
I stand there holding my dead phone while Lily shows Maya her drawing and Maya makes pancakes and the whole world keeps spinning like nothing just ended.
But something did end. I feel it in my bones.
"Mama?" Lily tugs on my shirt. "Are you crying?"
I touch my face. It's wet. "Just happy tears, baby. Just happy."
But they're not happy tears. They're goodbye tears.
Because I've finally realized something I should have known five years ago: Dominic Kane will never love me. He's been waiting for Celeste this whole time. And now she's coming back.
Which means it's time for me to leave.
Maya looks at my face and her eyes go wide. "Aria, what are you thinking?"
I kiss Lily's forehead and grab my phone. "I'm thinking it's time to call a divorce lawyer."
"Finally," Maya breathes.
But before I can dial, my phone buzzes with a photo message. From a number I don't recognize.
I open it.
The world tilts sideways.
It's a picture of Dominic. At a restaurant. This morning. With a woman. A beautiful woman with golden hair and a perfect smile, leaning close to my husband, her hand on his arm.
The text below says: "Thought you should know what your husband does on your anniversary. - A Friend"
My hands start shaking so hard I almost drop the phone.
"Aria?" Maya grabs my shoulders. "What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I can't speak. Because I haven't seen a ghost.
I've seen proof.
Proof that while I was throwing away anniversary gifts and visiting our secret daughter, my husband was having breakfast with another woman. Maybe with Celeste herself, already in New York, already in his arms.
The phone buzzes again. Another photo.
This time they're outside the restaurant. And Dominic is hugging her.
My husband is hugging another woman on our anniversary.
The phone slips from my fingers and crashes to the floor.
And I realize—this isn't just about Celeste coming to stay with us.
She's already here.
She's already won.
And I've already lost everything.