Trent reached across the table as if he hoped to touch my hand. I pulled it back.
“You will go on your trip if you want,” I said. “But when you return, your things will not be here. I will have a lawyer by then.”
He stared at me, stunned. But the time for apologies had passed. Nothing he said could undo the damage.
He rolled his suitcase to the door. I followed, not to stop him, but to close the chapter. As the door shut behind him, Parker moved to my side and wrapped his arms around me.
“You are stronger than you think,” he whispered.
I exhaled slowly. For the first time, I believed him. Truth had broken my world, yet in the pieces, I found something unexpected. Freedom. And perhaps, with time, peace.
