The house was quiet in the particular way that meant everyone in it had agreed not to look too closely at anyone else. Kristoffer stood at the edge of the bedroom, listening. Down the hall, water ran and then stopped. A drawer slid shut. The ordinary sounds of a woman settling into a night she expected to be like every other night for the rest of her life. He had learned the rhythm of her quickly….a month for a marriage was enough to learn a rhythm, if not a person and he counted on it now the way a man counts on the dark. His wife downstairs notices him.

The gates of the estate closed behind him with a low mechanical groan, and only then did Kristoffer let out the breath he’d been holding since the front door. The mansion shrank in his mirror — all that pale stone and tall dark windows, the house his family had given him along with the wife. One window upstairs was still lit. Lenora, waiting up. He looked away from it and pressed his foot down. He waited until the estate was well behind him before he called. Hands-free, her name glowing on the dashboard. She picked up before the first ring had finished

The car glided through quiet suburban streets, then onto a narrow coastal road lined with pine trees and occasional villas hidden behind high hedges. Half an hour later, he pulled up to a modern glass-and-wood house perched on cliffs overlooking the fjord. No security cameras. No staff. Just peace and discretion.

The glass-and-wood house belonged to Jennifer Wells. Fashion icon. Socialite. Vogue cover girl twice in a single year. A woman whose name sparked headlines, not just for her designs but for the mystery around her private life especially lately, when she’d stopped appearing publicly with anyone. But Kristoffer knew. They’d been seeing each other quietly for years now….. through encrypted messages and discreet meetings that never made headlines because neither of them wanted attention on this…. He hadn't told his wife about Jennifer…. Not legally required to disclose lovers (their marriage was transactional; he could do whatever he pleased) And today? Today was rare: A real meeting with the woman he loves