Yasin shut the door and leaned against it, happy that he was in his own home and not in the war zone that his father’s house had become. Here, there was civility.

He trusted that, by now, Olivia would have calmed down enough to want to talk things through. In the past hour or so, he had begun to smooth things over with his father and sister, enough so that he could bring Olivia back to their home so they could talk about it civilly. Olivia wasn’t hotheaded like his father or brother. Well, save for the coffee incident, he thought with a small smile.

He’d spoken to his father first, addressing him in terms he thought he would understand. The scene played in his head again as he leaned against the inside of his front door.

“You and I both know that she’s a good person, no matter what the paperwork says,” Yasin began. “You’re a good judge of character and you warmed to her right away, just as I did. You’ve never wavered in your trust in me. I’ve never brought any bad clients to the office. They’re vetted well and I’ve never made a mistake. If I inherited anything from you—other than your nose and eyes—it is your excellent judge of character.”

“What is your point?” Maalik asked, sitting in his chair. He looked exhausted and fed up.

“Those photographers that were outside during the wedding and the interviews that we did. They all know that we have a good marriage. You don’t want to tarnish that image. Not after what your second wife did to you. Do you remember how hard it was for you to bounce back from that?”

“What am I supposed to do, then? She stole from you. We don’t welcome thieves into our home,” Maalik said.

Yasin shook his head. “No, she didn’t. But I need you to have an open mind and listen to what we have to say. I want to go home and bring her back here so we can explain together.”

“Explain?” His father’s brows turned upward in confusion. “Explain what?”

“Can you wait?” Yasin asked. “Until I can bring her back here?”

It had taken him a long time, but he’d finally convinced his father to allow them to come back. Now, all he needed to do was to convince Olivia that she could trust him.

His mind drifted to the look on her face. The look on her face when he had been frozen in shock. When she’d told him it was over. He’d thought she had meant that they were over. That she never wanted to see him again. It had broken his heart. He never wanted to go through that feeling again.

“Olivia,” he called. He walked down the hall to her wing and knocked on her bedroom door. “Olivia,” he called again. “Listen,” he said. “I know that you’re upset. I don’t want you to think that you can’t be mad at me because I know that it’ll happen again in the future. I’m not perfect. Especially when it comes to my family.” He knocked on the door again. “I just want to talk to you and explain why I froze like that.”

He listened. Nothing. No sound. She wasn’t on the phone to her sister. She wasn’t crying.

He knocked one last time. “I’m coming in,” he said.

A gasp escaped him as he took in the sight in front of him.

The room was nearly bare. She had taken her clothes and the bags she’d brought with her. The presents he had bought her had been piled onto the bed. The computer he had bought her was still there, but there was a letter sitting on the keyboard.

He walked up to it and looked at the name written on the front of the envelope: “Sheikh Yasin bin Taab.” He wasn’t sure if she had ever said his full name before.

He took the letter and sat down on the floor as he opened it.

Dear Yasin,

This letter is one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever had to write. By the time you read this, I’ll be on a plane headed back to Texas.

I know that I signed a contract with you, and my intention is still to honor it. I’m going to carry the baby to term in America and will return with the baby after he or she is born. I know that this baby is yours and I don’t want to take him or her from you, but I can’t stay here.

I’ve loved being able to get to know you. I learned so much about what I want in a relationship. We really had something special. I loved learning about you and about what makes you happy. There is something deep inside me that always wants you to be happy and, while I’m angry at you and the situation, I’m sad for what we’ve lost.

You’ve been a gentleman. You’re a great person, and despite my sadness that everything took a turn for the worse, I can tell you that I meant everything that I said in my vows.

Below is my address, as assurance that it was never my intention to go back on the agreement we made.

Sincerely,

Olivia

Yasin stared at the letter. He’d known what it was going to say even before he’d opened the envelope, but it still hurt.

The house seemed empty without her. She was one person, but she had made his home feel so much happier and warmer—all she had to do was be there and it felt like a better place. It was colder now. He looked around the room. He thought about the art studio she had created for him, and a tear streamed down his cheek.

I can’t lose her. No matter what, I can’t lose her.

He couldn’t lose yet another woman that he cared about. Especially since, this time, there was something he could do about it.

With the letter in hand, he stood up and walked to the art studio. The light flickered on with a flip of the switch. The notebook that Olivia had used was still on the table.

He picked it up and flipped through it. The drawings that she’d made were beautiful. It was as if he was looking at the world through her eyes. When he found one of himself, he almost didn’t recognize his picture. He was smiling and looking off in the distance. He wondered just what he had been thinking when she was drawing this.

“I was probably thinking of you,” he said out loud. “I was probably thinking of my future with you.” His heart tore in half. “I love you,” he said. The words slipped out of his mouth faster than he could stop them. “I love you, Olivia.”

Why wasn’t she there to hear them?