I stopped.
“Cole...”
I turned.
“Is there any chance we can fix this?”
For fourteen years, that question was all I had wanted.
But listening to him now felt different.
“I don’t know.
She cried louder.
“But I know one thing.”
“What?”
“I won’t spend the rest of my life trying to become someone I won’t go to.”
Then I walked away.
PART FIVE — THE HOUSE
Three months later, the house sold.
The divorce was finalized.
Derek kept his gym.
Claire kept her life.
And I kept my half of the equity.
But something unexpected happened.
I haven't spent it in another house.
I used part of it to open a small HVAC business.
At first, I worked alone.
Then
I hired two technicians.
Then four.
The business grew.
For the first time in years, I was not trying to survive someone else’s expectations.
I was building something of my own.
