Adrian’s jaw was shadowed with fresh stubble, casting a faint bluish tint along his chin. The dark circles under his eyes made him look like he’d aged ten years in just one month.
“I let you and Lila down.
His voice cracked as he pressed a hand to his face, trying to hide the tears that slipped through, anyway.
“I didn’t step in because we were still married. I did it because I was scared a criminal record would follow Lila for the rest of her life.”
He looked down at the crumpled plane ticket in his hand.
“Once I’m back home, I won’t come back.”
Right before he walked off toward security, Adrian turned to Rafael and gave his shoulder a solid, weighted pat.
“Don’t forget what you promised me. I couldn’t keep the things I said I would… but I hope you will.
Rafael nodded. “That’s exactly why I came back.”
We left the airport without another word.
The drive back into the city stretched out, long and quiet. Streetlights flicked across the windshield like slow blinks.
Eventually, I broke the silence. “When did you and Adrian meet? And what promise was he talking about, Rafael?”
Rafael kept his eyes on the road, jaw tense.
“It’s a secret,” he said after a pause. “I’ll tell you when the time’s right.”
Rafael’s POV
The airport was way out on the edge of the city, and the ride back felt even longer than it actually
was.
Julia was asleep in the passenger seat beside Lila, her head tilted slightly, her face soft in the glow of the passing streetlights.
I glanced over at her for a second before turning my eyes back to the road.
There were things I would never say out loud, not to her and not to anyone else.
Back in college, I had pulled Adrian aside once, cornered him behind the lecture hall.
I told him straight, “You better treat Julia right, because I’m ready to take your place.”
Adrian laughed, brushing it off as if it were a joke. “You won’t get the chance, Steele! Julia and I will be happy. Always.”
And for a while, they were.
By the time I graduated, Adrian’s company was already taking off.
Chanted
Everyone saw them as the picture–perfect couple, the kind of success story people wrote about So I left, took a job overseas, and gave them space to live that dream
I stayed gone until the headlines exploded.
Their marriage was falling apart in public, trending nonstop, and Adrian never even tried to set the record straight.
That was when I knew that my chance had finally come
Because Julia deserved better
She deserved a better kind of love
