DIVORCE

ers. I hadn't expected the emptiness to feel this overwhelming, this all-consuming. Every corner of t

with her, and I had reluctantly agreed, knowing that being alone in the house would only make things worse. The fir

guilt that gnawed at my insides every time I thought about our last conversation. But no matter how hard I tried to dis

couch, the soft glow of the lamp casting shadows around us. She had been kind, offering her sup

inking about what he said-how much he loved me. How much he wanted us

e for him. You have to live for you. Whatever happened, whatever caused a

't change the truth. I had walked away. I had turned my back on the

urs spent staring out the window, my mind replaying every conversation, every argument, every

hing right. But this time, I couldn't fix it. I couldn't undo the damage. I cou

ing-I hadn't just walked away from him. I had walked away from a version of myself that I no longer recognized. I had

ad to rediscover that, even if it meant f

ed me, as if on their own accord, to the place where our life together had started. The park was just around the corner from the house we had shared for so ma

d sat, laughing and kissing under the stars, felt cold and unwelcoming. The swings where we

lling the tears that threatened to fall to stay hidden. I needed to thi

deliberate, as if someone was making their way toward me with pu

ter everything. But there he was, his face drawn with exh

, his gaze locked on mine, as if searching for somethi

rembling. I hated that it wavered, hated that it stil

voice carrying a weight I hadn't heard in it before

to say, so much I wanted to ask, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, we just stood

e every right to be. But I need you to know... I don't want t

oed in my mind, a bitter reminder of everything I had wanted to

I said, my voice barely audible. "I

ect you to forgive me right away. I just need you to know that I'm

better, that would give us both the closure we needed. B

ffocating me with every breath. I had walked away,

gan walking back toward the path leading out of the park. Behind me,

now what the future held. But I knew one thing