The taxi ride to work was quiet. Daniel stared out the window, watching other people in their cars going about normal lives. He'd sold his Honda six months ago when Sarah's lawyer fees started piling up.
The C-shaped scar on his palm throbbed. He kept his hands in his pockets, but the mark pulsed like it had its own heartbeat.
"Here's fine," Daniel told the driver at Meridian Holdings.
He stepped out and looked up at the familiar glass tower. Same building where Richard had stolen his wife. Daniel adjusted the expensive suit that felt foreign against his skin.
The lobby buzzed with morning rush. Daniel could feel eyes on him as he walked toward the elevators. Ever since Sarah left, people had been watching him, whispering behind his back.
*There goes Daniel Reeves, the pathetic guy whose wife ran off with a board member.*
The elevator was packed with workers from different departments. Daniel squeezed in, keeping his hands in his pockets.
Around the fifth floor, an older woman from HR touched his arm gently. She was in her sixties, had been with the company forever, one of those motherly types who remembered everyone's birthday.
"You doing alright, honey?" Martha asked.
Everyone turned to look at him. Daniel felt their stares.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said.
Martha smiled warmly. "Well, you look very handsome today. That's a beautiful suit – must have cost a fortune."
"Thank you."
"I heard about what happened with Sarah," she continued, dropping her voice to a whisper everyone could still hear. "And I just want you to know, that whole situation wasn't your fault."
The elevator went uncomfortable. Nobody talked about personal drama at work, especially involving board members.
But Martha wasn't finished. She looked around at the uncomfortable faces and shook her head.
"What? It's the truth, isn't it? That Richard thinks he can take whatever he wants just because he's got money and a fancy title." She paused, then added with a wicked gleam, "Man's been married three times himself. Probably cheated on every one of them."
Despite everything that had happened, despite the confusion and fear from this morning, Daniel felt a small smile escape his lips. For the first time in months, someone was actually defending him instead of pitying him or gossiping about him behind his back.
Martha noticed his smile and patted his arm again. "That's better. When the right person comes along, they'll love you for who you are, not what you can give them. Don't let anyone tell you different."
"Thank you, Martha. Really."
The elevator dinged at his floor. As the doors opened, Martha waved at him with genuine warmth.
"You have a good day, dear."
Daniel waved back, then stepped out into the hallway. The brief moment of warmth from the elevator faded as soon as he entered the tech department. Here, everything looked exactly the same as always – rows of cubicles filled with monitors and tangled cables, the soft hum of servers and air conditioning, the familiar smell of coffee and electronics.
It was comforting in a way, this sameness. After the strangeness of waking up in that hotel room, after Cassandra's claims about marriage and blood bonds, the mundane normalcy of his workplace felt like an anchor to reality.
He walked past workstations where his colleagues were already deep into their morning routines. Code scrolling across screens, keyboards clicking steadily, the occasional frustrated sigh when something didn't compile correctly. Normal people doing normal work.
"Morning, Michael," he said to one of his coworkers as he passed.
"Yeah, hey," Michael replied without looking up from his computer, but Daniel caught the way his eyes flicked over the expensive suit, taking in the perfect fit and quality fabric.
He was almost to his desk when someone grabbed him from behind.
"Yooo man, you look like a million bucks," a familiar voice said. "But you're sweating like you just ran a marathon."
Daniel turned to see Noah, his closest friend at work and probably his only real ally in the building. At five-foot-eight with prematurely gray hair and a solid build that suggested he spent time in the gym, Noah had the kind of presence that commanded respect in the office. He worked in IT security, one level above Daniel in the company hierarchy, and had been the one to get Daniel this job in the first place.
"Did you take out a loan for this suit or what?" Noah asked with a grin, but his eyes were scanning Daniel's face with concern.
They started walking together toward Daniel's workstation. Daniel felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. If anyone would give him straight answers, it would be Noah. They'd known each other for years, had been through Daniel's divorce together, all the late-night drinks and venting sessions.
"Actually, I need to ask you something," Daniel said, his voice dropping. "It's important."
Noah's expression grew more serious, picking up on the tone. "Anything, man. What's going on? You've seemed off lately."
Daniel took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain what had happened without sounding completely insane. "Do you guys ever play pranks on people here? Like involving women, or weird situations?"
Noah stopped walking and stared at him. "What kind of pranks? What do you mean?"
"Yesterday after work, I went to Jimmy's bar to drink," Daniel said, the words coming out in a rush. "There was this woman there, and I told her about Sarah, about how I can't get her out of my head. So she offered to help by having a one-night stand with me, but then she made this fucking bargain that I'd have to stay with her forever. We did this blood thing, cutting our palms and pressing them together, and now she says we're married. She even bought me this suit."
Noah's eyes widened. "Are you serious right now?"
"Completely serious."
"Daniel..." Noah ran a hand through his gray hair, looking genuinely worried. "That sounds completely insane. Are you sure this actually happened? I mean, you've been drinking a lot since Sarah left, and stress can make people—"
"I'm not making this up," Daniel interrupted. "Look, she gave me this mark."
He pulled his left hand from his pocket and held it up toward Noah, showing him the C-shaped scar on his palm.
Noah looked down at Daniel's palm, squinting at it for a long moment. His expression went from concern to something closer to alarm.
"Daniel," Noah said slowly, his voice careful. "I don't see anything."
Daniel felt his heart sink. "What do you mean you don't see anything?"
"Your palm looks completely normal," Noah said, genuine worry creeping into his voice. "There's no mark, no scar, nothing. It looks exactly like it always has."
Daniel stared at his palm, then at Noah's face, then back at his palm. The C-shaped scar was still there, clear as day from his perspective. Dark and raised, definitely real.
"You really don't see it?" Daniel asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"See what? There's nothing there, man." Noah moved closer, his voice getting gentler. "Look, I know the divorce hit you hard. Sarah leaving, the financial problems, working here where Richard walks around like he owns the place. It's enough to mess with anyone's head."
Daniel felt anger and panic flare up inside him. Noah was supposed to be his best friend, the guy who'd brought him into this company, his senior in the IT department. If Noah wouldn't believe him, who would?
"It's not about Sarah," Daniel said, but his voice cracked.
Noah was looking at him with that expression people get when they're trying to figure out how to handle someone who might be having a breakdown. Careful, gentle, like he was talking to someone standing on a ledge.
"Look, I've got a meeting in ten minutes, but I dropped some data files on your desk that need to be uploaded today. We'll talk more later, okay? But Daniel, seriously, maybe you should consider talking to someone. A professional. There's no shame in getting help."
Daniel watched his friend walk away, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the office. He looked down at his palm again – the C-shaped scar was still there, as real as anything he'd ever felt.
Around him, normal life continued. Keyboards clicking, phone conversations, the hum of fluorescent lights. But Daniel felt like he was watching it all from behind glass now, separated from the normal world by something he couldn't understand.
There was a mirror mounted on the wall nearby, part of the office's modern design. Daniel walked over to it slowly, his heart starting to race.
He held up his palm to the reflection.
Nothing. In the mirror, his palm looked completely normal. No scar, no mark, just regular skin with the usual lines and creases.
But when he looked directly at his hand, the C-shaped scar was still there, dark and raised and definitely real.
Daniel tried it again, his breathing getting faster. Palm to mirror – nothing. Direct look – scar. Palm to mirror – nothing. Direct look – scar.
"What the hell?" he whispered, gripping the edge of a nearby desk.
This wasn't possible. Scars didn't just disappear in mirrors. Reflections showed what was really there, not what your mind wanted to see. This was basic reality, basic physics.
He looked around the office frantically, at all the normal people doing normal work, typing on their computers and answering phones and living their regular lives. Everything looked exactly the same as it always had, but Daniel felt like he was seeing it all from another dimension now.
The mark on his palm throbbed, and suddenly he could hear Cassandra's voice as clearly as if she were standing beside him: *We're married now, Daniel. Forever.*
Daniel stumbled backward from the mirror, his chest tight, his breathing shallow. The expensive suit felt like a costume now, the lingering cologne like a brand marking him as hers.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, getting louder with each heartbeat, he could still hear her calling him darling.