Elodie never imagined Jarrod would say something like that.

His expression hadn't changed-still composed, distant, and dignified. Yet beneath that calm exterior, was there a flicker of...hurt? She couldn't quite tell, and that confused her. Jarrod was never someone to show vulnerability like this.

And that line-"I've minded it for nearly three of our four years of marriage..."

It left her stunned for a moment. She pressed her lips together and lifted her chin to look at him. "What exactly do you know?"

There had been good times between her and Jarrod, once. Later, when he changed suddenly, she'd chalked it up to his self-restraint, believing that's why he'd been so attentive that first year. When things cooled off, she assumed he'd simply lost interest. Even long after what she considered their "divorce," she'd held onto that explanation.

But now...

Jarrod was saying he'd always cared about Ivan.

Yet in all those years, Jarrod had never once mentioned Ivan. Not a hint, not a slip. After all, once she married Jarrod, she'd devoted herself to their marriage, drawing a clear line between past and present. She'd never even thought of Ivan during those years.

She had no idea how, or when, Jarrod had learned about Ivan—or why he'd started to care.

I know you once had feelings for each other. I know you married me because of Ivan-not just because

just

in the past was true. But even so, she hadn't spoken Ivan's name once since

did you find

you kept asking about? The one I told you I'd lost?

widened in

she understood exactly

years, ever since

life-including traces

gaze, lips

why Jarrod had changed

was a flicker of surprise, nothing more. She didn't seem to care what

casual, but his eyes were shadowed with something dark. "Is that why you wanted to marry

finally asked the question he'd been holding

laptop-so much about Ivan. Back then, Jarrod had only known that Malcolm had forced Elodie to marry him, but not who she'd done it for. It was only later, after overhearing a conversation between Elodie and Malcolm,

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