Updated Feb 23, 2026 • ~6 min read
POV: Dominic
She’s gone.
Rory’s actually gone.
I stand in the half-empty house and realize: I lost her.
Not might lose. Not could lose.
Lost. Past tense. Done.
The house feels wrong. Too big. Too empty.
All her things are gone. The art on the walls. The plants she kept everywhere. The throw pillows she insisted made the couch “cozy.”
Gone.
Like she was never here.
Except I can still smell her perfume in our—my—bedroom.
Can still see the coffee ring on the counter from her mug.
Can still hear her laugh echoing in the empty rooms.
God, what have I done?
Celeste finds me sitting in the dark living room at midnight.
“Dom? Are you okay?”
“No.”
She sits next to me. Carefully. Still not fully steady on her feet.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “About the kiss. I shouldn’t have—”
“Why did you?”
“What?”
“Why did you kiss me? You know I’m with Rory. You know how complicated this is. Why make it harder?”
“I just… I thought if you remembered how we used to be, maybe you’d want to try again.”
“That’s not fair, Celeste.”
“I know. But nothing about this is fair. I lost five years. You moved on. She got the life I should’ve had. None of it’s fair.”
She’s not wrong.
“I love her,” I say quietly.
Celeste flinches.
“I know.”
“Do you? Because sometimes it feels like you think this is still a competition you can win.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No. It’s not. Because even if I choose you, I’ll still love her. That doesn’t just go away.”
“But you’d choose to build a future with me?”
I look at her.
Really look at her.
She’s beautiful. She’s my history. Five years of marriage. Vows. A life we built before the accident destroyed everything.
But when I picture my future…
I don’t see her.
I see Rory.
Rory laughing at my terrible jokes.
Rory painting in the spare room we converted to her studio.
Rory planning our family. Our life. Our forever.
“I think I made a mistake,” I whisper.
“What?”
“The kiss. Letting you stay here. All of it. I was so focused on not hurting you that I destroyed the woman I actually want to be with.”
Celeste’s eyes fill with tears.
“You’re choosing her.”
“I think I already did. I just wasn’t brave enough to admit it.”
“So what—I woke up from a coma just to lose my husband anyway?”
“You didn’t lose me. We lost each other. The accident changed both of us. We’re not the same people we were.”
“I can be that person again—”
“No. You can’t. And I can’t either. We have to accept that and move forward.”
“I don’t want to move forward without you.”
“I know. But staying together out of guilt isn’t fair to either of us.”
She’s crying now. Hard.
“I love you,” she sobs.
“I know. I love you too. Just… not the way you need. Not anymore.”
“Because of her.”
“Because of everything. The five years. The changes. The life I built without you. It’s not your fault. But it’s reality.”
Celeste stands up. Grabs her walker.
“I need to be alone.”
“Celeste—”
“Please. Just… give me space.”
She goes to the guest room. Closes the door.
I sit in the empty living room.
And pull out my phone.
Call Rory.
It goes straight to voicemail.
“Rory. It’s me. I know you don’t want to talk. But I need to say this. I love you. I choose you. I should have said that weeks ago. I should have fought for us instead of trying to save everyone’s feelings. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please… give me one more chance. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just… please don’t give up on us.”
I hang up.
Stare at the phone.
It doesn’t ring back.
The next day, I call her twenty times.
All straight to voicemail.
I drive to Priya’s apartment.
Priya answers the door. Glares at me.
“She doesn’t want to see you.”
“I need to talk to her—”
“You had WEEKS to talk. You chose to kiss your ex instead.”
“That was a mistake—”
“A mistake is forgetting milk at the store. Kissing another woman is a CHOICE.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. Can I please just—”
“No. She’s done, Dominic. You broke her heart. Repeatedly. She’s not giving you another chance to do it again.”
“I love her—”
“Then you should have chosen her when it mattered.”
She slams the door in my face.
I go to her school.
Wait in the parking lot.
She comes out at three-thirty.
Sees me. Stops.
For a moment, she just stares.
Then she walks to her car.
“Rory, please—”
“Go home, Dominic.”
“Just hear me out—”
“I’ve heard you out for weeks. I’m done listening.”
“I choose you. I’m choosing you.”
She laughs. It’s bitter.
“Too late.”
“It’s not too late—”
“It IS. You had a month to choose me. You didn’t. You kissed her instead. That was your choice.”
“One mistake doesn’t erase three years—”
“No. But it revealed the truth. You’re still in love with her. Or in love with the idea of fixing what you lost. Either way, I can’t compete.”
“You’re not competing—”
“I’ve BEEN competing. For weeks. Fighting for you while you sat on the fence. I’m exhausted, Dom. I’m done.”
“What about court? The annulment?”
“I withdrew my petition. The annulment will go through. You’re free to stay married to Celeste.”
“I don’t want Celeste—”
“Then why did you kiss her?”
I don’t have an answer.
Can’t have an answer.
Because the truth is complicated and she doesn’t want complicated.
She wants simple.
Choose me or don’t.
And I waited too long.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “For all of it.”
“Me too.”
She gets in her car.
Drives away.
And I stand there realizing:
I lost the best thing that ever happened to me.
Because I was too guilty to let go of the past.
Because I tried to save everyone and ended up losing the one person who actually mattered.
Rory.
The woman I love.
The woman I chose too late.
END OF CHAPTER 17
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