Chapter 5 – Choosing Myself
Chapter 5 – Choosing Myself
Three months later, the divorce was finalized.
It had been one of the shortest marriages in Cook County.
The judge awarded me nearly everything that had belonged to me before the wedding.
The condo.
The car.
My savings.
My investments.
The fraudulent charges would be handled separately.
Preston left the courthouse carrying one cardboard box.
Everything else he'd tried to build had collapsed under the weight of his own choices.
Dad helped me repaint the condo.
Every room.
Fresh colors.
Fresh furniture.
Fresh memories.
The bruise on my cheek disappeared within weeks.
The lesson stayed forever.
One afternoon, while organizing old boxes, I found my wedding album.
I looked at exactly one photograph.
Then I closed it.
Some memories don't deserve display.
Only closure.
Richard sent one final letter.
He had filed for divorce from Eleanor after thirty-four years.
He wrote,
Watching what happened to you forced me to admit what I'd ignored my entire marriage. Silence protects the wrong people.
May you like
I never replied.
But I hoped he meant it.
