The Art of Starting Over

Chapter 3

Word Count: 580 | Released on: 30/06/2025

o his office. He was an older man with a kind face, a mentor who had always suppor

tand you and Olivia might have your little disagreements, but your families are v

than replied coolly, offering

t about who's a better dancer. This is about app

ved through. He thought of Olivia's stoic face, her heart locked away for another man. This wasn't regret, it was liberation. Pus

ers brushing against his skin. They were laughing, their heads close together, their body language easy and familiar. It was a picture of casual intimacy, the exact thing that had been missing from his sixty-year marriage to

waved enthusiastically.

He had no choice but to

en. She seemed a little flustered, as if caught doing something she

Ethan said. "I

amatically. "It's freezing ou

took Daniel by the arm and steered him toward her parked car, leaving Ethan standing alone on the sidewalk. He watched them go, Olivia fussing over Dan

group of women gossiping near a bus stop.

Hayes and that Daniel L

d for her to marry Ethan Mi

to feel sorry

re you idiots talking about?!" It was Kevin Green, his best friend, his fac

Chapter End

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The Art of Starting Over

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“At eighty, I lay dying in a sterile hospital room, a life I felt was utterly wasted flashing before my eyes. My wife of sixty years, Olivia Hayes, sat beside me, her stoic composure a familiar mask. Then, her whispered confession shattered everything: "Tell Daniel... I've always loved him." Daniel, her colleague from decades ago. Sixty years of quiet resentment, of being a placeholder, a fool. Rage burned in my dying body-a useless, consuming fire. Then, darkness. Light. Soft blankets. My young mother' s beaming face. It was 1987. I was a baby again, but the memories of my eighty-year life, and Olivia's betrayal, were searing. "Mom," I squeaked, my infant voice unwavering, "I won't marry Olivia Hayes." Years later, at eighteen, the name Olivia was a constant dread. Our families had an arranged engagement, a relic I had accepted in my past life. This time, it was a prison sentence. I saw her with Daniel Lee at the community center, laughing the unguarded laugh I rarely saw in our marriage, her caring gestures confirming the truth. She approached me, that familiar stoic calm in place, perhaps to touch my arm. I stepped back, a deliberate movement. "Are you avoiding me?" she asked, her tone flat. I met her gaze directly. "We should keep our distance, Olivia. It's better for everyone." I walked away. My past life, a suffocating nightmare. This life would be different. This life was for me. I would be free.”