community coordinator.
Kenji had been afraid to discuss the project because it was not merely an idea. It was the last unfinished dream of the family he had lost.
Yuki looked at the photographs again.
She understood why he had kept the room locked.
But understanding did not erase the hurt.
“You could have told me,” she said quietly.
Kenji nodded.
“Yes.”
“You could have said that you had a wife and a daughter who died. You could have told me that talking about them was difficult. I might not have known what to say, but I would have listened.”
“I know.”
“Instead, you let me wonder whether you were hiding another relationship, or a financial problem, or something else that could affect our marriage.”
Kenji lowered his head.
“I thought I was protecting you from my past.”
Yuki felt tears gathering in her eyes.
“No,” she said. “You were
