No one argued.
Lena struggled more.
Some days she gravitated toward Isaiah because their history was woven through half her adult life.
Other days she missed the quiet stability Thomas had given her.
Isaiah refused to pressure her.
Mostly.
There were nights when anger returned.
He imagined Thomas beside her.
He imagined the wedding.
He imagined Maya learning to ride a bike without him.
Then he reminded himself that his family had believed he was dead.
Forgiveness did not arrive once.
It had to be chosen repeatedly.
One evening, six months after Isaiah returned, Lena came to his apartment.
She looked exhausted.
"We need to decide."
Isaiah let her inside.
They sat.
Lena clasped her hands.
"I've hurt both of you."
Isaiah said nothing.
"I keep thinking there is a choice that doesn't destroy somebody."
"There isn't."
"I know."
She began crying.
"I married Thomas because I believed you were dead."
Isaiah waited.
"If you had actually died, I would stay married to him."
His face tightened, but he nodded.
Lena continued.
"But you didn't die."
"No."
"And every time I look at you, part of me feels like my husband came back."
"Part of you?"
She closed her eyes.
"Isaiah, I can't pretend the last four years didn't happen."
"I know."
"I became someone else."
"So did I."
She nodded.
"We're not the people who said goodbye at the airport."
"No."
Silence.
Then Lena said, "I don't think I can come back to our marriage."
Isaiah's chest went still.
There it was.
He had prepared for it.
Preparation did nothing.
He looked toward the window.
Lena cried quietly.
"I'm sorry."
Isaiah swallowed.
"You're choosing Thomas."
"I'm choosing the life I built after you were gone."
The distinction mattered.
It still hurt.
He nodded.
"Does he know?"
"No."
Isaiah laughed faintly.
"He'll probably tell you to think about it for six more months."
Lena smiled through tears.
"Probably."
Isaiah finally looked at her.
"Do you love me?"
"Yes."
"Then why isn't that enough?"
Lena's face broke.
"Because love isn't a time machine."
Isaiah closed his eyes.
That sentence became the end of their marriage.
Not legally.
The law had already ended it years earlier when Isaiah was declared dead.