Lauren had changed too. She had begun therapy and stopped contacting Grant. She did not ask Daniel to reward that work by returning to her. When they met to sign the final divorce papers, she said, “I kept blaming you for a life I was responsible for helping build.”
Daniel nodded. It was the first explanation she had offered that did not require him to carry part of her choice.
Outside the courthouse, they walked in opposite directions.
Daniel went home, removed the folder from his desk, and placed it in a storage box. He did not destroy it. He simply no longer needed it within reach.
On the kitchen counter sat a new savings statement with only his name on it. Beside it was a key to a modest apartment he had chosen because the windows faced east.
The next morning, sunlight crossed the floor before he woke. For the first time in years, no unanswered question was waiting beside him.
