Time passed.

Fall had come and gone, and by the time winter had set in, life had settled back into a routine. It wasn’t the same as before, but it was a regular routine, and its consistency made the adjustment easier.

Six days out of seven, the children would be with her, and the first time their father had told them they would be sleeping on the yacht with him on a Saturday night, the twins had been confused and then subdued. It had killed her to see their faces, and it had been on the tip of her tongue to tell them that she had changed her mind and would go with them instead but Kyr had stepped in then, and the burden of breaking their hearts had been transferred to him.

Mama has just started working, he had told them. Let’s give her a day each week to rest, and then maybe next time she’ll join us?

The twins had nodded dutifully, and even though questions had lurked in their dark gazes, neither of them had asked her anything.

Work was still a joy for Pollyanna, but more than that, it was a means for financial independence and she wanted this for both the right and wrong reasons. Insecurities making her competitive, Pollyanna had begun to want to be rich only so she could say to herself she was in equal footing with Ana. Ana was rich now, and so Pollyanna wanted to be, too, telling herself she owed it to her children to be someone who had everything. But deep inside, she knew it wasn’t that at all.

If she and Ana ever met again, she didn’t want to give the other woman a chance to look down on her.

It was that simple, and more often than not, it served as her motivation to work in the most absurdly hectic ways. Tonight was one such instance, with Pollyanna impulsively accepting a rush project. With only less than four hours to conceptualize a theme for a bachelor’s party, she had decided to switch her phone off in order to work without distractions.

She had succeeded, received heaps of praise from the client, but on her way back, her feelings of victory turned into dismay when she opened her phone and saw the flood of texts from the twins.

They were begging for her to come home, and by the time she made it to the front door, her heart was lodged in her throat. She rushed to their room, thinking the worst, only to find the twins sleeping peacefully, curled on each side of their father.

Who would have thought that a simple blowfish look could drive him to his knees? But it was what it was, and Kyr knew if those looks could be bought, he would have paid a million dollars for each of them.

It had been so damn long since he had last seen her. Her security team gave him his daily reports, and they had learned to include scores of photos with them. But it hadn’t been enough.

It was nothing like how he was feeling now, seeing his wife in the flesh.

Carefully pulling away so he wouldn’t disturb the twins’ sleep, he pressed a finger to his lips, knowing his wife would understand. Pollyanna only nodded and disappeared back into the hallway.

After ruffling Ella and Dio’s hair goodnight, he left the twins’ bedroom and came down to see Pollyanna waiting for him at the living room.

“I don’t always come home this late,” his wife said, biting her lip.

Her tone was defensive, and Kyr knew she had been expecting him to call her out for not being there when the twins needed her. Shaking his head, he said quietly, “I know that. You didn’t really think I wouldn’t be keeping tabs on you?”

She gave him her blowfish look again, and his heart cracked a little.

Theo.

How he missed that look. Sometimes, he wanted to see it so badly, he would end up dreaming it, only to wake up a second later. It was as if God was punishing him even in his sleep, making Kyr feel that he didn’t even have any right to dream about his wife.

“It’s not that I distrust you or anything,” he elaborated, not wanting to have any misunderstandings between them. “But you know how much of a control freak I am, and I don’t think that will ever change. I just need to make sure you and the children are safe.”

Pollyanna slowly nodded. “I get it.”

He hesitated then continued, “I wouldn’t have come here if Annalisa’s nanny hadn’t asked for me to drop by. Apparently, the twins had watched some kind of horror short on YouTube, and it’s gotten them frightened out of their wits.”

“I know.” For a moment, Pollyanna completely forgot about everything between them, with her mom’s cap on. “Ella’s texts were pretty descriptive, and even though Dio tried to play it cool, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out he was bothered, too.”

“I made sure to save the title on my browser.” Kyr took his phone out as he spoke. “I think we should check it out, too, see if we need to use stricter parental controls on their browsing.”

Knowing he was right, she reluctantly moved closer, just enough so she could see his screen, too. She caught a glimpse of the title and realized it was an indie production.

Lights Out – Who’s There Film Challenge (2013).

Her eyebrows shot up when she saw that the video was just less than three minutes.

And this had scared her normally outrageous twins?

The video started playing.

And Kyr dropped his phone at the end of the film with a string of Greek expletives.

Pollyanna couldn’t help it. She tried to cover her mouth and keep it down, but the giggles came out.

Kyr’s hazel eyes were shooting daggers at her.

“Sorry.” She tried to swallow her laughter back but it was no use, and it started all over again, making Pollyanna double over. “Oh, God, if you could see the look in your eyes.”

Kyr’s irritation died as he watched his wife laugh with tears in her eyes.

This, he couldn’t help thinking.

This was the Pollyanna that had captured his heart, the Pollyanna that had breathed new life into him.

This was the Pollyanna he had fallen in love with – and would always love.

Her laughter died, and she looked at him, visibly disconcerted, as if having just realized he had been staring at her all the while. He turned to face her fully, but she quickly stepped away, as if the mere thought of having them touch was unbearable.

Without meeting his gaze, she said with a rush, “Thank you for coming and helping with the twins. I’m sorry I wasn’t here, but I promise it won’t happen again so…” She gestured to the door vaguely. “You can leave now.”

He breathed hard. “Polly---”

“Please.” Her voice had become cold and stiff, and she hadn’t even needed to force it. Somewhere along the line, it had happened, and she had become who she was supposed to be.

Someone who was strong.

But when she heard the door close behind Kyr, she couldn’t stop herself from sinking to her knees and crying.

She was strong.

She was strong now.

But why couldn’t she feel glad?

Why couldn’t she feel proud that she was strong now?

Why?

* * *

It chafed and offended Pollyanna, the way she couldn’t get her husband out of her mind, and in her desperation, she began to do something that she never in her life thought she would want to do.

She began to flirt with another man.

Adrian was the rakishly handsome nephew of one of her repeat clients. A year younger than she was and a shameless playboy, he was also outrageous in the way he expressed his admiration for her. Ever since meeting Pollyanna, he had begun to drop by her Athens office several days a week, asking her out for coffee or sometimes even just for a walk around the city.

She had used to refuse him, but now she didn’t, thinking that maybe, maybe spending time with another guy – especially someone who was Kyr’s opposite – would finally work at opening her eyes to the truth.

Albeit fraught with sexual tension, the time she spent with Adrian remained technically platonic. The most he was able to do was occasionally put an arm around her shoulders, and only when he caught her off guard.

All of this was but a rebellious phase for Pollyanna, years too late because she had never had a chance to experiment or explore. However, the world didn’t see it quite that way. In her naiveté, Pollyanna didn’t realize at all that even her tamest and most cautious flirtations were already quietly making waves in all of Athens. If perhaps she had a close friend who moved in the same circles she and her husband did, she would have been warned. But the problem was, Pollyanna didn’t have anyone. Her life on the island had been like living in a glass bubble and although she got along well with Mairi, the wife of Kyr’s other best friend Damen Leventis, Pollyanna had never been able to confide in the older woman, finding the latter too intimidating.

And so Pollyanna continued to go out on dates with Adrian, and not once had it occured to her that people would notice or that Kyr would know. In her innocence, she had forgotten that she wasn’t just any single mother suffering from heartbreak and reeling from her husband’s betrayal. She was also Pollyanna, wife to billionaire Kyrillos Gazis, and the fact that she was playing around was a big thing in Greek society.