Not because I believed I had truly been his wife.
But because it represented ten days in which Carl finally allowed himself to be part of my life.
Now I no longer needed the ring to carry him with me.
As I stood, I noticed something beneath the chessboard.
A folded note.
My name was written on it.
I laughed.
“Another one?”
The paper contained only a few lines.
Claire,
If you found this, you finally learned to check beneath the board.
There is one truth I was too afraid to tell you.
I did not ask you to marry me only for legal access or inheritance.
I asked because, for ten days, I wanted permission to stop hiding.
I wanted to sit beside you not as a stranger, volunteer patient, anonymous protector, or secret uncle.
I wanted to be family.
And you gave me that.
Thank you.
Below his name, he had drawn a tiny chess king wearing a crooked crown.
