The Return of The King Steven

Steven sat at their small dining table, staring at his cold plate.

He had been waiting for over an hour. Waiting for his wife, Nora—to be home.

Nora still hasn't come home. She usually lets him know when she's on her way. But this time, there hasn't been a single message.

It's past eight thirty.

Steven took a deep breath. He didn't want to think badly of her. He always tried to believe.

Throughout their years of marriage, that was the one thing he continued to do—believe.

The door finally opened.

Nora entered with hurried steps, her face looking happy—not at Steven, but at her cell phone, which she held tightly.

"Sorry, I'm late," Nora said without looking at her husband.

Steven stood up spontaneously.

“I've prepared dinner. You haven't eaten yet, have you?”

Nora took off her coat and sat down on the sofa.

"I already ate. Ryan treated me. He... Well, he said he wanted to apologize for the past."

That name.

A name that for years he had heard only as an old memory.

The name that Nora said she had buried deep inside.

But the corners of Steven's lips tightened. "Did you two eat together?"

"Steven, don't start." Nora's tone immediately rose.

"He's just an old friend. Besides, he just got back from abroad. He wants to respect my time."

Steven swallowed his disappointment. "You can tell me first.”

"I forgot." Nora waved her hand as if it were no big deal. "And don't make that face. You're making me feel guilty when there's nothing to feel guilty about."

Steven sat back down. He tried to speak softly.

"I'm just... worried."

"Why should you worry?" This time Nora looked at Steven clearly.

Her gaze was cold. "Do you think I would do something behind your back?"

Steven was silent. The slightest mistake—whatever his answer—would be a new mistake.

“That wasn't what I meant.”

"Never mind." Nora got up from the sofa. "I'm tired."

***

A few days later, the atmosphere at home felt increasingly strange.

Ryan came up in every conversation Nora had. In every story. In every complaint.

And one thing changed drastically: Nora began to look at Steven suspiciously.

One morning, Steven was about to leave for work when Nora stopped him.

"Wait."

Steven stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I heard from Ryan... he said he saw you with another woman yesterday."

Steven frowned.

Another woman? Nora, I was at the office all day.

"He said you went out with a woman. Tall, brown hair, wearing a skirt—"

“That's my colleague. We're meeting with a client.”

Nora crossed her arms over her chest. "You never said anything."

"Because it's working hours."

"That's not the problem!" Nora snapped. "The problem is that you're hiding something!"

Steven finally realized that no matter what he said, Ryan was already one step ahead of him.

"Nora," he said softly, "do you trust Ryan more than your own husband?"

Nora's eyes fluttered. There was a pause. But not for long.

“Ryan has no reason to lie.”

Unlike you.

Nora didn't say those words, but Steven could clearly read them in her eyes.

Minor accusations began to become routine.

Mistake after mistake that he never made began to come out of Nora's mouth.

Ryan is always behind him.

Steven remained silent. He didn't want to make things worse.

He just wanted his house to be warm again like it used to be. He still hoped Nora would wake up.

But one night, everything fell apart.

Nora came home with a gloomy face. She stared at Steven as if she were looking at a shapeshifter disguised as her own husband.

"We need to talk."

That tone is too familiar. The tone of someone who has already passed judgment before hearing the defense.

Steven shrugged. "Talk about what?"

“Ryan as—”

That name again.

"—you used company money for personal gain. You took advantage without my consent."

Steven immediately shook his head. "That's not true."

"He has the proof."

"What proof?" Steven took a step forward. "I never touched your company's money."

Nora dropped a stack of papers on the table. "Here."

Steven took them, examined them one by one—invoices, transfers, asset purchase documents—all of which appeared to originate from Steven.

Even though Steven knew exactly: this was a fabrication.

"Nora," Steven stared deeply at his wife, "this isn't me. Someone else is controlling all of this."

"Ryan said you'd say that." Nora snorted.

He said you would blame others.

Steven felt tightness in his chest. He was no longer fighting slander.

He was fighting his wife's blind faith in another man.

"What... Do you still love Ryan?"

The question slipped out without him planning it.

Nora's face changed instantly. She looked surprised and offended—but she didn't deny it.

"It has nothing to do with love!" Nora snapped. "This is about honesty! And you... you're not being honest to me."

Steven refrained from speaking loudly.

"I have never lied about anything in this marriage."

Nora looked away. And that's when Steven knew: her heart was no longer in this house.

"Nora." His voice broke. "If you believe him, not me... what do we still have?"

Nora didn't answer. The silence was sharper than any scream.

After a few seconds that felt like a long minute, Steven said softly:

"Maybe... we should consider getting a divorce."

Nora jumped a little, but she didn't deny it. She didn't beg. She didn't refuse.

All she said was one sentence: "It's up to you."

That's it. Those words that destroyed the entire foundation of Steven's years of devotion.

That night, Steven sat alone in the living room.

It was the first time he felt a chill that came from within, not from outside.

He didn't know that this was only the beginning.

He didn't know that Ryan was waiting for one thing:

The moment when Steven truly gave up.

And Nora...

Nora didn't even realize that everything she was proud of—her company, her success—had been built by one person:

Steven.

The person he now accuses without thinking twice. The person he now pushes out of his life.