to forgive her.
But I believed him.
Then he left.
The door closed.
Daniel and I were alone.
For seventeen years, he had been the person he trusted most in the world.
Now I barely recognized him.
“Laura, I made a mistake.
- No.
I looked him straight in the eye.
One mistake is to forget an anniversary. One mistake is to say something cruel during an argument.
I pointed to the apartment documents.
— This was a plan.
He started crying.
Not me.
Not yet.
“Come home with me,” he pleaded. “We can fix it.
I slowly took off my wedding ring.
His eyes came down to my hand.
Seventeen years ago I promised to build a life with you.
I left the ring on the hotel table.
“But you built a way out behind my back.
Then I went out.
Daniel shouted my name from the hallway.
I kept walking.
When she returned home two days later, her clothes were already packed in boxes in the garage.
