His phone buzzed in his pocket, and I knew it was Gloria’s paperwork making its arrival known. A legal document, clean and precise, explaining the reality he had refused to acknowledge. He’d been served in more ways than one.
As I sat there, the sun lowering itself into the horizon, I realized this was my ending, too. An ending to a chapter of betrayal and humiliation, an ending of a marriage that had turned into a transaction. But with every ending comes a beginning.
I started the car, my heart steady, my resolve firm. I had plans of my own—different plans, plans that did not include being an afterthought in someone else’s story. As I drove away, leaving Ethan to grapple with the consequences of his choices, I felt a sense of peace wash over me.
Though the road ahead was uncertain and the path uncharted, it was mine to explore. And for the first time in a long time, I felt free.
