Part 3Love in Every Sunrise and Sunset

Liam didn’t come home that night.

I tossed and turned for hours before finally drifting into a restless sleep. In my dreams, I remembered what the master at the monastery had said.

When Liam had gone to ask Master Kaelen for a blessed charm for our union, the old master had shaken his head. “The thread of fate between you two is short and fraught with hardship. It is better not to ask for it.”

I didn’t care much for such things, but Liam was insistent. Finally, the master said that if he was truly sincere, he would consider it, but only if Liam completed a pilgrimage of three thousand steps to the monastery’s peak, kneeling in prayer with every three.

I couldn’t bear the thought of him doing that, so I persuaded him to leave. Love was in our everyday lives; I could see it. I didn’t need a ritual to prove it.

But the next night, a disheveled but beaming Liam appeared, holding the charm. “Honey! I did it!”

I could only laugh and call him a fool.

I woke with a start and sat in bed for a long time before dressing and heading for Azure Peak Monastery. I had to ask the master if he had foreseen something, if there was any way to fix this.

The old master simply asked, “What is so wrong with severing a calamitous bond sooner rather than later?”

I was about to argue when he gestured for me to look across the courtyard. One glance, and my blood boiled. Amidst the crowd of worshipers, Liam stood with his arm around Sophie, bowing before the statues.

I forced down the tightness in my chest, reminding myself I was here for guidance.

Master Kaelen looked at my pale face, sighed, and handed me a slip of paper with a prayer written on it. “Go home. Place this by your bed and sleep. Tomorrow, you will have your answer.”

I did as he said. I placed the paper on my nightstand and fell into a long, deep dream.

I dreamed I was seven months pregnant, on my way home from a check-up. Liam got a call from work and had to leave me to get home on my own. On the way, I was in a car accident. I went into premature labor. One of the twins didn’t survive.

In the hospital, Liam held our dead child, his eyes red as he demanded to know why I hadn’t been more careful. I was drowning in my own grief. The loss became a wound between us that never healed.

Later, our surviving daughter was diagnosed with autism at age three. Liam’s work became more demanding, and he came home less and less. I became a version of myself I didn’t recognize. I would secretly check his phone, show up at his precinct unannounced during his late nights, and whisper to our daughter, “Daddy doesn’t want us anymore.”

Nearly every time he came home, we fought. “If you hadn’t had her, we wouldn’t be so miserable!” he’d roar before slamming the door.

A month after one such fight, I found a movie ticket stub in the pocket of his uniform. It was for a love seat. My eyes burned. He had told me he was pulling an all-nighter interrogating a suspect.

Things like that started happening more often. The scent of another woman’s perfume, a smudge of lipstick on his collar, the unlisted number that appeared frequently in his call log.

I watched, scene by scene, as our marriage rotted from the inside out.

Sophie had a son, bright and healthy. On our daughter’s fifth birthday, Liam promised to take her to the amusement park. But he never showed up. He had to take Sophie’s son to the hospital instead.

My daughter cried, asking, “Mommy, does Daddy not like us at all?”

We despised each other, but we stayed together for our child.

The dream ended with a final, horrific image: Sophie standing on the edge of a rooftop with her son. She smiled at a frantic Liam below. “Liam, in our next life, I want to meet you sooner.” Then she jumped.

The dream-Liam turned to me, his eyes like daggers. “Are you satisfied now, Thea?”

I woke up with a gasp, drenched in a cold sweat. I touched my still-flat stomach, my mind in turmoil.

Before, I couldn’t imagine how our love could ever sour so completely. But after seeing it unfold, watching our marriage decay step by agonizing step…

I closed my eyes and, just as he wished, signed the divorce papers.

After calling my parents to explain, I went to the hospital and scheduled the abortion.