Chapter 10 - A Happy Ending
Three years later.
I sat on the porch of our new home—a small, bright house we had bought together. The dog, Scout, was curled at my feet, and Lily, now eleven, was reading a book in the sun.
My agency was doing well. I had hired five people, and they all knew that we valued balance as much as we valued hard work. I had no furniture in my life that wasn't chosen.
A car pulled into the driveway. It wasn't Thomas. It was someone I had met a year ago, a man who didn't view me as a prop in his life, but as a partner in his.
I stood up, walked to the door, and took his hand.
I thought about the woman at the kitchen table years ago, the one who couldn't find the vaccination records, the one who was looking for something she had already lost. I would tell her that she was right to leave. I would tell her that the air would eventually stop lying.
I looked out at the garden, at the flowers Lily had helped me plant. They were messy, vibrant, and real.
May you like
I had been told that I was a wife, a mother, a supporting character. But as the sun set over the horizon, turning the sky a deep, beautiful blue, I realized I had been the author all along. And the ending was mine to write.
I kissed my partner, called for Lily, and we went inside for dinner. The air was clear, and it didn't lie. It was perfect.
