Updated Mar 22, 2026 • ~12 min read
Chapter 20: Not Carlos
POV: Rory
Rory – CARLOS RETURNS
Rory is working from home on a Saturday afternoon—writing an article about basketball since she’s requested transfer away from hockey coverage and is starting the transition to covering other sports—when someone knocks on her apartment door with the kind of insistent rhythm that suggests they’re not going away until she answers.
She’s expecting Margot with coffee and sympathy about the professional upheaval of changing beats, so she opens the door without checking the peephole and freezes when she finds Carlos standing in her hallway looking exactly as she remembers him—tall and handsome and smiling with the kind of charm that used to make her stomach flip but now just makes her feel vaguely annoyed.
“Rory,” Carlos says, like showing up unannounced at her apartment two years after their divorce is perfectly normal. “You look amazing. Can I come in? We need to talk.”
“Absolutely not,” Rory says, already moving to close the door, but Carlos puts his hand out to stop it.
“Please. Just five minutes. I came all the way from LA to see you.”
“That was your choice,” Rory says flatly. “I didn’t invite you. I specifically told you months ago not to contact me again. So whatever you think we need to talk about, we don’t.”
“I made a mistake,” Carlos says, and he’s using his sincere voice—the one he deployed when apologizing for missing important events, when explaining away suspicious behavior, when lying to her face about cheating. “Letting you go. Destroying our marriage. All of it. I’ve been in therapy, working on myself, and I realize now that you were the best thing in my life and I threw it away for meaningless hookups. I want to try again. See if we can fix what I broke.”
Rory stares at him—at this man who spent years betraying her trust, who made her feel crazy for questioning obvious red flags, who destroyed her ability to believe athletes could be faithful—and feels absolutely nothing except mild irritation that he’s interrupting her Saturday.
“No,” she says simply. “Not interested. Not now, not ever. You don’t get to decide two years later that you want me back and expect me to fall into line. I’ve moved on. I’m happy. And you showing up here changes nothing.”
“Is it the hockey player?” Carlos asks, and there’s something sharp in his question. “I saw the way he looks at you in press conferences. Read between the lines in your articles. You’re involved with someone on the team you cover, aren’t you? That’s a massive ethical violation, Rory. You could lose your job.”
“That’s none of your business,” Rory says, even though he’s right—or was right until she requested reassignment specifically to avoid that ethical violation. “My personal life stopped being your concern when you decided to sleep with half of Chicago behind my back.”
“I was young and stupid,” Carlos argues, trying to push into her apartment, but Rory holds the door firm. “I didn’t appreciate what I had. But I’m different now. I’ve changed. I’m in therapy, I’ve dealt with my commitment issues, I’m ready to actually be the husband you deserved. Give me another chance to prove it.”
“Why would I give you another chance when I’m with someone who’s never given me a reason to doubt him?” Rory asks, and saying it out loud crystallizes something she’s been too scared to fully acknowledge—Henrik has proven himself trustworthy over and over, has been patient and honest and loyal even when she’s been difficult, has shown through consistent actions that he’s nothing like the man currently standing in her hallway asking for unearned forgiveness.
“Because you know me,” Carlos says. “You know what you’re getting. This hockey player—you barely know him. How long have you been dating? A few months? That’s not enough time to actually know if he’s trustworthy. Give it a year and he’ll probably cheat too. Athletes all do eventually.”
“Not all athletes,” Rory says firmly, and she realizes she actually believes it now—not all athletes are going to betray her, not every professional sportsman is destined to cheat, Henrik has proven he’s different and she’s done letting Carlos’s behavior define her expectations for all future relationships. “You cheated. That was your choice, your failure, your pattern. It doesn’t mean every athlete will make the same choices.”
“You’re naive if you think that,” Carlos scoffs. “Professional sports, travel, women throwing themselves at players—the temptation is constant. I’m just the one who was honest about giving in to it. Your hockey player is probably doing the same thing and just hiding it better.”
“Get out,” Rory says, anger finally breaking through the annoyance because how dare Carlos show up and try to undermine her current relationship by projecting his own infidelity onto Henrik. “Get out of my building. Don’t call me, don’t text me, don’t show up at my apartment. We’re done. We’ve been done for two years. And nothing you say is going to change that.”
“You’ll regret this,” Carlos says, finally stepping back from her door. “When he cheats. When you realize I was right about athletes. You’ll wish you’d given me another chance.”
“I won’t,” Rory says with certainty. “Because even if Henrik turns out to be a mistake—which he won’t—at least he’s a mistake I chose for myself instead of one I’m going back to out of fear and familiarity. Now leave.”
She closes the door in Carlos’s face and locks it immediately, then stands in her entryway shaking with adrenaline and the uncomfortable awareness that Carlos showing up has forced her to actually examine her relationship with Henrik without the filter of past trauma.
Henrik has never given her reason to doubt his faithfulness.
Has been honest about where he is and who he’s with, even when honesty was inconvenient.
Has shown through consistent behavior that he prioritizes their relationship even when it’s hard.
Has been patient with her trust issues without using that patience as leverage or acting like she should be grateful he’s willing to tolerate her damage.
Has loved her loudly and steadily and without reservation, even when she’s been guarded and difficult and constantly waiting for him to fail.
Henrik is nothing like Carlos.
And she’s been so busy protecting herself from potential betrayal that she hasn’t fully appreciated what she actually has—someone who’s proven himself worthy of trust, someone who’s shown up consistently, someone who loves her enough to fight for the relationship even when she makes it difficult.
She needs to tell him.
Needs to actually acknowledge that she trusts him, that she’s done waiting for him to become Carlos, that she’s ready to fully commit instead of keeping one foot out the door in case of disaster.
Rory calls Henrik immediately. “Can I come over? Something happened and I need to see you.”
“Of course,” Henrik says, sounding concerned. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Rory says. “Better than fine. Just need to talk to you. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
She drives to Henrik’s apartment with clarity she hasn’t had since they started dating—this is it, this is the person she wants, this is the relationship worth fighting for—and when Henrik opens his door looking worried, she walks directly into his arms and says against his chest, “Carlos showed up at my apartment.”
Henrik tenses immediately. “What? Is he still there? Did he threaten you?”
“No, he’s gone. And he didn’t threaten me—he wanted me back. Said he made a mistake leaving me, that he’s changed, that he wants to try again.” Rory pulls back to look at Henrik directly. “And I realized standing there listening to him that I felt absolutely nothing. No temptation, no nostalgia, no interest whatsoever in giving him another chance. Because I’m in love with you. And you’re nothing like him.”
“Of course I’m nothing like him,” Henrik says, still tense. “I would never cheat on you. I would never betray your trust like he did.”
“I know,” Rory says, and she means it with every fiber of her being. “I actually know that now. Not just intellectually, but in my gut. You’ve proven it over and over—through how you handled the pregnancy scare, through how you’ve been patient with my trust issues, through how you’ve stayed even when I’ve made this relationship difficult. You’re loyal and honest and trustworthy, and I’m done waiting for you to fail.”
Henrik’s expression softens. “You’ve been waiting for me to fail?”
“Yes,” Rory admits honestly. “Since the beginning. I’ve been watching for red flags, questioning your motives, keeping emotional distance in case you turned out to be like Carlos. And that hasn’t been fair to you. Because you’ve done nothing to deserve that suspicion. You’ve been amazing. And I want to actually acknowledge that instead of just being scared all the time.”
“What changed?” Henrik asks. “Between yesterday and today. What made you stop being scared?”
“Carlos showing up and realizing I feel nothing for him,” Rory says. “Realizing that what I have with you is completely different from what I had with him. He made me feel crazy for having suspicions that turned out to be correct. You make me feel safe even when I’m being irrationally suspicious. He lied constantly. You’ve been honest even when honesty was uncomfortable. He prioritized himself always. You’ve prioritized us. You’re just… you’re different. Better. And I trust you.”
“Say that again,” Henrik says quietly.
“I trust you,” Rory repeats. “I trust that you’re not cheating when you travel. I trust that you mean it when you say you love me. I trust that you’re committed to making this work. I trust you, Henrik. Completely.”
Henrik pulls her into a kiss that tastes like relief and promise and the beginning of actual partnership instead of guarded coexistence, and when they finally separate he says, “Thank you. For trusting me. For choosing me over your fear. For letting me actually be different from your ex instead of expecting me to fail.”
“Thank you for being patient while I figured it out,” Rory responds. “For not giving up when I was difficult. For proving through actions that you’re trustworthy instead of just asking me to take your word for it.”
They spend the rest of the afternoon talking about Carlos’s visit and what it clarified for Rory—that she’s done letting past trauma dictate her current relationship, that she’s ready to actually move forward with Henrik without constant fear of betrayal, that trusting him feels right instead of terrifying.
“What did he say exactly?” Henrik asks later when they’re on his couch with takeout from the Thai place they both love.
“That he made a mistake, that he’s changed, that athletes all cheat eventually so I should go back to him since at least I know what I’m getting,” Rory recounts. “Which is possibly the worst argument for reconciliation I’ve ever heard.”
“Athletes don’t all cheat,” Henrik says firmly. “Lucas has been married for five years and is completely faithful. Half the team is in committed relationships. Your ex cheated because he’s an asshole with poor impulse control and no respect for you. Not because he’s an athlete.”
“I know that now,” Rory says. “Standing there listening to Carlos try to convince me that you’re going to cheat eventually, I realized how insane that logic is. You’ve shown me who you are. I should trust that instead of projecting Carlos’s behavior onto you.”
“Does this mean you’re done waiting for me to fail?” Henrik asks hopefully.
“I’m done waiting for you to fail,” Rory confirms. “I’m all in. Fully committed. Ready to actually build a future with you instead of just enjoying the present while expecting disaster.”
“Good,” Henrik says, pulling her closer. “Because I’ve been all in since the pregnancy scare. Maybe before. And I’m really glad you’re finally catching up.”
They make love that night with a different energy—not crisis-driven or reconciliation-focused but celebratory, like they’re marking the beginning of actual partnership instead of guarded relationship—and Rory feels lighter than she has in months, feels like she’s finally shed the weight of constantly protecting herself against potential hurt.
“I love you,” Rory says afterward, and it comes out easy instead of scared. “I’m in love with you. I trust you. I choose you. All of it.”
“I love you too,” Henrik responds. “And I’m really proud of you for getting here. For doing the work to heal from what Carlos did. For being brave enough to actually trust me.”
Rory falls asleep in Henrik’s arms thinking that Carlos showing up was actually a gift—not because she wanted to see him, but because his presence clarified exactly how much she’s moved on, how completely different Henrik is, how ready she actually is to stop protecting herself and start actually living in the relationship she’s building.
She’s done letting Carlos’s betrayal define her expectations.
Done waiting for Henrik to fail.
Done being scared.
She’s ready for whatever comes next.
And that feels like freedom.
🔥
END CHAPTER 20
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