Page 29 of In Love with My Secret Husband

She sat at the kitchen table surrounded by index cards and marker-stained fingers and the cold remains of tea she had forgotten to drink, and the tears fell onto a worksheet about the letter Q.

If she hadn't known God, those words would be like poison in her heart, and something that she would never be free from. But because she did know Him, and she knew Troy, and this time...

I love you, Laina.

This time, she wouldn't make the same mistake she had made when she walked out on their marriage...

Wait for me here like a good wife—

Even if the whole world believed she would never deserve her husband, or it was Troy who shouldn't ever be forgiven...

None of it mattered.

—while I fix things like a good husband.

Because she realized now, this was what it meant to love her husband.

It was to put her trust in him...even if things didn't work out in the end.

To love him was to risk it all.

Because love kept no records of wrong.

To love him was to have no regrets about doing what was right.

And was there anything more right than having hope?

Chapter Eight

"HELLO, LAINA. I'M CAMILLA, and this is my husband, Trey. It's so nice to finally meet you."

Laina had seen the couple plenty of times. Not just in photos but on the nights she'd watch live games of the Waymakers from her seat in Section 308, Row 14. She would catch glimpses of them in the owner's box far above her, two elegant figures behind the glass, and she had always wondered what it would be like to be up there. To belong in that world the way they so clearly did.

She never imagined she'd find out like this.

Camilla drew her to the couch, which had a view of the rink below that stole her breath. The Ericsson Suite — named after Camilla's late father, who had built the Waymakers from the ground up — was perched above the ice like a private balcony at the edge of a dream. Floor-to-ceiling glass. Leather seating that curved around a mahogany bar. Screens on every wall showing pre-game analysis and player interviews. A catering spread that could have fed her entire kindergarten class and their parents.

Below them, The Res was coming alive. Playoffs night, and the arena was already thrumming an hour before puck drop. The ice gleamed under the lights, freshly resurfaced, and the crew was setting up the ceremonial carpet at center ice. Fans were filing in through every entrance, a river of teal and silver jerseys, and the hum of twenty thousand voices was building into something that vibrated through the glass.

Laina had sat in this building dozens of times. But she had never seen it from here. From up here, the rink looked like a jewel, and the crowd looked like a living thing, and the energy was something she could feel in her chest.

It was Laina's first time inside a VIP suite, but even she knew this was no ordinary one. This was the suite reserved exclusively for the Flints' use, the one where team owners and league officials and the occasional head of state watched from behind bulletproof glass with a private elevator and a dedicated security detail standing discreetly outside the door.

But for Laina, who only knew just enough about hockey and only watched the games for her husband alone...

"I'm sorry for causing trouble like this."

The use of VIP suites, from what she understood, was a marketing strategy in itself, and it was why they were often photographed overflowing with partying A-listers. This was especially true on a playoffs night like this, and so, for Laina to be alone with the couple, it had to have cost them something.

Camilla squeezed her hand. "It's no trouble at all, Laina. I promise."

"Would you like anything to drink?" her husband asked.

She quickly shook her head. "I'm fine." Her stomach had tied itself into knots, and she had a feeling she'd simply throw up anything she tried to swallow.

Camilla tried her best not to be obvious as she checked the time.Ten minutes.She just had to make sure that they kept Troy's wife here for ten minutes, and then everything would be okay.

"Is everything okay?" Laina asked awkwardly.