Victor’s face darkened for a moment. «We were together fifteen years,» he began. «Met in college.»
Alice was an artist, very talented. Her works were even exhibited in small galleries. And then? Then the illness happened.
It all went so fast we didn’t even have time to realize. Six months of fighting, and that was it. He spoke calmly, but Mary saw his fingers tense, gripping the fork.
«Sorry for making you remember,» she said quietly. «It’s nothing,» he shook his head. «It’s part of my life I don’t renounce.»
«I loved Alice, and the time spent with her was happy. But life goes on, and we must move forward. You understand that too, right?» Mary nodded.
Yes, she understood. For three years she lived as if in a cocoon, focused only on work and her daughter. But people aren’t made for loneliness, no matter how clichéd that sounds.
Victor escorted her home by taxi, though Mary insisted she could take public transport. «No way,» he objected. «It’s late, and I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you.»
At the entrance, he kissed her. Lightly, almost weightlessly, as if afraid to scare her off. «I’ll call tomorrow, okay.»
Climbing the stairs, the elevator in their old apartment building wasn’t working again, Mary caught herself feeling like a girl after her first date. Music from the play echoed in her head, and her lips still held the warmth of the kiss. Sophie was indeed already asleep, curled up under the blanket, with her palm under her cheek.
Just like Alex always slept. Mary quietly adjusted the blanket and left the room, trying not to creak the floorboards. The following weeks flew by like in a fog.
Victor called every day, invited her to movies, restaurants, or just walks. Brought flowers. Not standard roses, but special bouquets arranged with taste and imagination.
Once, learning that Mary had a particularly tough day at work, he brought bags of groceries to her home and cooked dinner himself. Real chili from his grandma’s recipe and apple pie. Sophie watched the relationship develop with wary interest…
She no longer asked direct questions, but Mary noticed how attentively her daughter followed every gesture, every word of Victor’s, as if trying to solve a puzzle. «Don’t you like him?» Mary asked once when she and her daughter were washing dishes after a dinner Victor attended. «I don’t know,» Sophie answered honestly.
«He’s kind of. Too perfect, like he’s playing a role. Not everyone has such a complex character as you or Dad,» Mary smiled…
«Some people are just. Calm by nature.» Sophie shrugged and said nothing more, but Mary noticed her daughter didn’t share her enthusiasm.
However, that was natural. A child needs time to get used to a new person in their life. And Victor was definitely becoming a new person in their life.
Just two months after meeting, he proposed to Mary. Without theatrical gestures, simply over dinner in her apartment, after Sophie went to bed. «I know we’ve known each other a short time,» he said, looking straight into her eyes.
«But I’m sure of my feelings. You. Are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
You, and Sophie. I don’t claim the father’s place in her life, but I want to become her friend, someone she can rely on.» Mary hesitated.
Everything was happening too fast, but on the other hand. They’re both not 20 anymore to drag out the candy-bouquet period for years. And Sophie needed a man in the house, not just as an example, but as support, protection.
«Mom, why so fast?» Sophie sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the blanket corner. Her face in the nightlight seemed especially… pale. «You’ve known each other so little.»
Daniel Carter is a senior staff writer at InspireChronicle, specializing in legal conflicts, family disputes, and real-life justice stories. His work focuses on high-stakes situations involving inheritance, betrayal, and complex moral decisions. Through detailed storytelling, he explores how ordinary people navigate extraordinary challenges and the long-term consequences that follow.
His articles have gained significant traction online for their emotional depth and realism, resonating with readers across the United States.
He writes extensively about justice, personal responsibility, and the hidden dynamics within families.