Chapter Two: Beneath Polite Lies
They met again, of course. Sins have a way of arranging second chances.
Coffee turned into long walks, long walks into shared silences that felt intimate rather than awkward. Ethan was careful with her, almost reverent, as though she were something easily broken—or something he feared wanting too much. Lila noticed the way his jaw tightened when she laughed too freely, the way his eyes darkened when she brushed past him.
There was tension between them, thick and restrained. The kind that makes every accidental touch feel deliberate, every pause heavy with what remains unsaid. Yet he never crossed the line. Not even when she wished he would.
It was during one quiet afternoon, when the sky burned gold with sunset, that the truth surfaced. Ethan was married.
He did not offer excuses. He spoke of loneliness, of duty mistaken for love, of a life built carefully but without warmth. Lila listened, torn between understanding and outrage. She had sworn never to become that woman—the one who stepped into another's vows like they meant nothing.
And yet, when he looked at her then, vulnerable and ashamed, she felt something twist painfully in her chest. This was not a man chasing pleasure. This was a man standing at the edge of himself, unsure whether to step back or fall.
That night, Lila cried alone, realizing the danger was no longer him—it was her own heart.