For lunch.
Margaret did not know.
They walked through the lobby.
Lauren became visibly tense near the ballroom corridor.
Daniel noticed.
“We can leave.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I want to see it.”
The ballroom was empty.
No flowers.
No guests.
Chandeliers still hung above polished floors.
Lauren stood exactly where she had slapped Margaret.
She touched her own hand.
Daniel watched.
“I barely remember doing it.”
“I do.”
“I know.”
She closed her eyes.
“I hated her in that second.”
Daniel said nothing.
Lauren continued:
“Not really her.”
“What?”
“What she represented.”
Daniel understood.
“No.”
Lauren looked at him.
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No.”
“I know.”
She smiled sadly.
“I’m getting good at both things.”
“What?”
“Explaining without excusing.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Lauren looked toward the empty dance floor.
“We never had our first dance.”
“No.”
“Do you regret it?”
Daniel thought.
“The wedding?”
Her expression tightened.
“No.”
He clarified.
“I regret how we treated each other before we understood what marriage required.”
She stared.
“That sounds very therapist.”
“Expensive.”
They smiled.
Then Daniel took out his phone.
He played the song they had chosen for the first dance.
Lauren laughed.
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“Here?”
“There’s no one.”
A hotel employee stood near the far doors.
Daniel looked.
“Almost no one.”
Lauren hesitated.
Then placed one hand in his.
They danced.
No photographer.
No guests.
No $214,680.
No applause.
Three minutes.
When the song ended, Daniel said:
“I want to try again.”
Lauren stopped.
“What?”
“Our marriage.”
Her eyes filled.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
That made her laugh through tears.
He continued:
“I think certainty got us into trouble.”
She nodded.
“I want to try while knowing we can still fail.”
Lauren looked at him.
“Yes.”
They did not renew vows.
They did not stage another wedding.
They simply moved back into the townhouse three months later.
Slowly.
Separate accounts remained.
The prenup remained unchanged.
Lauren did not ask to change it.
Daniel eventually added her as beneficiary to personal assets that belonged to him outright.
His choice.
She accepted without treating it as proof of love.
They created a joint account for household expenses.
Contributed proportional amounts.
Boring money.
Exactly what Lauren wanted.
When Margaret learned, she approved silently.
Daniel noticed.
“You’re smiling.”