What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 22

At three-thirty, Kaia's phone rang. It was Finnian.

Kaia picked it up. "What is it?"

"I promised Brynlee I'd pick her up from school, but Noelle is still under observation at the hospital. You need to go get her."

Kaia stared at her computer screen, her voice deadpan. "Since you made a promise to your daughter, you should be the one to keep it."

"I can't leave right now..."

Kaia wanted to argue, but realized there was no point. She just hung up.

After leaving some instructions for her team, she packed her bag and left the office.

On the drive to the preschool, a quote surfaced in her mind.

"Sometimes, you have to leave the shadows behind to finally find your own light."

When she first read those words, she hadn't thought much of them. Now, she was chewing on them repeatedly.

Maybe it really was time to completely walk away from a place where she no longer belonged.

Outside the school, Brynlee was walking out in a neat line with her classmates. Wearing her hair in two little space buns, her big, dark eyes scanned the crowd for her dad.

Kaia walked up to her. Brynlee's lower lip pushed out into a pout. "I thought Daddy was coming to get me."

"Daddy is busy, so I'm picking you up. How about we go have dinner at Grandpa and Grandma's house?" Kaia asked gently.

"Okay! Let's go!" Brynlee's disappointment vanished in an instant.

Kaia stopped to buy some fruit on the way. When she glanced over, she noticed that the heart rate monitor watch was missing from Brynlee's wrist. She froze.

"Brynlee, where's your watch?"

The sound of a car engine shutting off came from outside.

A moment later, Finnian walked into the living room, a suit jacket draped over his arm.

Amara quickly stepped forward to take the jacket from him.

Finnian looked at Kaia sitting on the sofa, his voice carrying a trace of exhaustion. "It's late. You're still awake?"

"How is Noelle doing?" Kaia looked up from her tablet to ask.

Finnian replied, "The doctor said she's suffering from exhaustion and needs to rest for a few days."

"I see." Kaia wasn't surprised. She picked up her tablet and stood up to head upstairs.

Finnian's gaze locked onto Kaia's back, a faint hint of blame in his tone. "Rafael just passed away, and she had to deal with the project restructuring on top of that. She only forced herself to come back to work so people wouldn't talk. You know how driven she is. Even when she can't handle it, she pushes herself to the limit..."