I know this will hurt her, but I can’t rebuild us—can’t even ask for it—without coming clean, without being as honest as possible.
“She came back. Dad hired her before he stepped down. She’s a good CFO. She’s ruthless and ambitious. We have familiarity because of the years we spent together as children and teenagers.” Now came the hard part. I straightened. “I started to rely on her, especially when Dad poked at me for not being as good as him.”
Mia scoffs. “Nelson knows he’s not better than you—that you surpassed him years ago. That’s what makes him want to insult you, make you feel small.”
Even now, even after the shit I put her through, she’s defending me. My heart expands with love for her.
Suddenly, I feel even more desperate.
What if she turns me down?
“I started spending more and more time with Diana at work. She helped me. I had the best of both worlds. A wife at home who loved me and…a work wife who helped me with all things Winter Financial.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and I want to stop, but I know this Band-Aid needs to be ripped off the wound.
“I promise there’s a point to this, Mia. I want to tell you everything.”
She sniffles. “I know.”
Her generosity is one of the most beautiful things about my wife. Just one of many.
“I enjoyed her company. I looked forward to discussing work with her. It was such a relief to spar with someone, to get things done in the office. Have a partner. Bring in the big investors and clients. She was my work partner, and I’d been working alone for so long that she became important to me.”
I drink some coffee because my throat feels dry. I’m taking a massive risk being this open with Mia, hurting her like this. There’s a chance, at the end of our conversation today, she’ll tell me to take a hike, andnevertalk to me again.
“You were already making Winter Financial successful, even before you took over as CEO, Aiden,” Mia remarks quietly.
“I know. I get itnow, in hindsight. Butthen, I was scared I’d fail. She was there with me, winning. I neverhad sex with her. Never wanted to. But there was chemistry between us.”
“Aiden, all of us have chemistry with people. I have that with Katya. You have it with Huxley. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Mia interjects. “This isn’t about?—”
“I know. It’s about me giving her what is yours. My attention. My time. Paris.”
She doesn’t say anything, just looks down at the kitchen counter, as if my face is just too much for her.
“That night…shekissed me. She knew you were there. She did it on purpose, which is hideous.ButI kissed her back, Mia. For a moment, I did. And then I pushed her away. That kiss made me feel guilty. I kept thinking whether I should tell you.”
She gives me a sorrowful smile. “I kept waiting for you to. I thought if you’d just tell me, then we could….”
If I could’ve been honest about my mistakes and admitted them, she’d have forgiven me. That’s what she’s telling me. That’s a wound I’ll carry forever.
“Will you sit here”—I pat the barstool next to me—"and let me hold your hand as I tell you the rest?”
She studies me for a long moment and then sits next to me, takes my hand in hers, and squeezes.
“I wish I had told you about it. I felt so guilty. It also made me realize that I can’t lose you. I love you so much. I was so scared. I was afraid that Diana would tell you. I never thought you saw the kiss, photographed it.”
“It was horrifying,” she admits.
I stroke my thumb over her skin, grounding myself in her touch.
“I started to see just how badly I’d failed you—not only because of that kiss, though it forced me to take a hard look at us. At me. In all the ways I let you down. Step one is obvious: stop letting my family treat you like shit. Stop pretending it’s okay when they act like jackasses.”
She huffs out a laugh but keeps hold of my hand.
“You waited six years to get to step one?”
“You didn’t push it, either, baby,” I remind her.
