His jacket on the chair.
His photographs on the wall.
Four years of memories.
I walked into our bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.
For the first time all day, I allowed myself to cry.
Not because I wanted him back.
Because I was mourning the woman I had been.
The woman who had believed love meant enduring humiliation.
The woman who had confused sacrifice with devotion.
The woman who had given everything and asked for almost nothing.
My phone rang.
It was my mother.
“Are you okay?”
I wiped my eyes.
“No.”
She was silent.
Then I smiled.
“But I will be.”
A month later, Prescott Technologies had a new CEO.
Me.
The company survived.
The employees kept their jobs.
The patents were secured.
And the investigation into Aaron uncovered far more than any of us expected.
He had lied about the origins of the company.
