He stood there on the terrace, the morning light glinting off the rim of the crystal glass. She, his wife, whom he loved like no other. Yet now his voice was icy, and his eyes were like the ones he had when he had looked down from the castle window as a child at those who had less than he.

She didn’t understand. She didn’t know what it meant to fight for everything, to be just a lawyer in the end. A lawyer – right next to a woman whose last name opened doors.

Tod: “I can’t go. The Ana case is on Monday, and if I leave now, I’ll put everything in jeopardy. She’s not just a client – ​​the future of my entire practice could depend on it.”

She just stood there, arms folded, holding the leather-bound travel diary she’d bought in Florence last year. She waited for it to fill with memories they’d shared. But now it seemed to be empty too.

She: “You always find a way to get out of our plans. Do you know how long it took to plan this vacation? My family will be there. But you prefer your little legal dramas.”

Tod:“This isn’t drama, this is my job! Not everyone can afford to fly to Tuscany whenever they want. I wasn’t born into this world. And sometimes I feel like you never really understood that.”

She: The words hung in the air, heavy as the silence that followed. She tried to stay tough, but something in her voice trembled. Maybe the realization that money and privilege couldn’t make up for the absence of her husband. Not this summer. Not in this marriage.

She (quietly): “I didn’t want it to be this way. I just… I don’t know how to live with someone who’s always somewhere else. Even when he's here.

Tod: “And I don't know how to be with someone who never sees where I'm coming from.”

Tod turned away, and the zipper of his suitcase creaked in the silence. Shr watched him close the suitcase. Then, without saying a word, he walked out of the house, back to the world of court, files, and Ana's case.

And the summer began without him.