I came home from a board meeting carrying a folder of quarterly reports.
He warmed dinner while I changed out of my suit.
At the table, he asked how the vote had gone.
“I kept control of the company,” I said.
He smiled and slid a plate toward me.
“Good.
I kept dinner warm.”
The gold pen Linda had brought was eventually returned as evidence after the case ended.
I did not throw it away.
I placed it inside the black folder.
Not as a reminder that I had nearly lost everything, but as proof that restraint had saved it.
Jason reached across the table and stopped before touching my hand.
I turned my palm upward.
Only then did he take it.
The first time I chose him, I had believed love required blind trust.
The second time, I chose him with my eyes open.