Across the path, a father was teaching a little girl to ride a bicycle without training wheels.
Her knees wobbled, and she laughed every time he caught the handlebars.
Daniel waited for the pair to pass before he told Jessica he wanted a divorce.
He said it calmly, with no performance of indifference.
His hands shook around the warm paper cup.
Jessica closed her eyes.
She had expected the words but still looked as if they had struck her.
She asked whether there was anything she could do to change his mind.
Daniel said he believed she had begun making honest changes, and he hoped she would continue.
He did not want those changes to be a test she had to pass to keep him.
He had realized he could not remain married while carrying the constant fear that affection might hide another life.
“I love you,” Jessica said.
“I know that sounds terrible after what I did.”
“I believe you have feelings for me,” Daniel replied.
“I still have feelings for you.
But I can’t build a life on what we feel when I no longer trust what we tell each other.”
She wiped her face and nodded.
She asked whether he hated her.
He said sometimes he had felt hatred, especially in the first weeks, but that it was passing.
He did not want to spend the rest of his life measuring her pain against his.
He wanted them both to become people who could tell the truth before a crisis forced it out.
They discussed the house without arguing.
Jessica had already obtained an independent valuation.
Daniel wanted to finish the repairs and sell in the spring.
They agreed to divide personal keepsakes after each had made a list, and they would not use Peter’s case as leverage in financial negotiations.
Jessica said she would continue pursuing the records with Priya and the other families.
Daniel said he might attend public meetings but would no longer act as an intermediary for her.
Before they left, Jessica reached into her bag and took out a photograph of Peter by the lake.
She had made two copies.
She offered one to Daniel because he had spent months trying to help find the truth.
He hesitated, then accepted.
The photograph belonged to Peter’s memory, not to the marriage.
Daniel promised to keep it respectfully.
Jessica thanked him without asking what he would do with their wedding pictures.
