Page 19 of The Weight of Her Silence
Lila’s throat tightened.
“I know.”
“Then tell me, Mom.”
She didn’t. Not yet. But that moment made something shift. She knew she couldn’t wait forever.
Nate
That night, he came home late—again. The kids were in bed. The house dark. Lila was in the kitchen, leaning over the counter with a mug of tea, shoulders slumped.
He paused in the doorway. For a split second, the guilt rose like a tidal wave. But then she looked up at him, and there was no accusation in her eyes. Just exhaustion.
“Long day?” she asked.
He nodded. And walked right past her. Up the stairs. Into the shower. Back to his quiet war of denial.
Chapter 17
Almost
Lila found the receipt tucked deep in his jacket pocket. A hotel she didn’t recognize. One night. Champagne ordered to the room. Her hand trembled as she held it, as if touching the paper could brand her with its truth.
The lies she’d wrapped around herself for years began to loosen. It wasn’t the first time she’d found something out of place—an unfamiliar scent on his collar, a long pause before he answered her questions, an absence she couldn’t explain.
But this?
This felt like a confirmation. And she didn’t know whether to throw up, scream, or cry. Instead, she folded the receipt carefully and placed it in the drawer beside her bed. She wasn’t ready. Not yet.
Later that evening, Nate walked in, late again, shrugging off his coat like nothing had changed. He kissed the top of her head absently, the way someone does out of habit, not love. Lila watched him from across the room, her heart thudding,something burning at the back of her throat. She could see it now.
The guilt.
The distance.
The way he never really looked at her anymore. He was always somewhere else—his body home, but his soul in another world.
Maybe with her.
She followed him into the kitchen.
“Nate.”
He didn’t look up, rummaging in the fridge.
“Hmm?”
She opened her mouth. The words were right there.
Who is she?
How long has this been going on?
Do you even love me anymore?
But all that came out was, “Did you eat?”
He paused. Glanced at her.
