“That isn’t what I meant.”

“On our anniversary, you chose dinner with her over me. When I found lipstick on your collar, you called me paranoid. While your mother was pressuring me with fertility treatments, you were going places with Vanessa to make wishes about love. And after you saw me in a hospital and believed we had lost a child, you still chose to spend an entire month traveling Europe with her.”

Ethan closed his eyes.

“I made a mistake.”

“No.”

I looked at him.

“Taking the wrong highway exit is a mistake. You made hundreds of separate choices.”

He stayed silent.

“I really did love you, Claire.”

“Maybe you did.”

I stepped closer.

“But you also loved knowing I was waiting at home while you enjoyed chasing someone else. You wanted Vanessa’s excitement and my loyalty at the same time.”

“I’ve ended things with her.”

“That doesn’t undo anything.”

“I can change.”

I gave him a sad smile.

“I already gave you a second chance once.”

I pointed at the documents.

“Sign them.”

He refused.

So I stood.

“Fine. I’m leaving the country to study. If I have to finish the divorce through the courts, I will.”

The color drained from his face.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

Only months earlier, that plan would have seemed impossible.

Now I had an IELTS score of 7.5.

Academic recommendations.

University applications already moving forward.

While Ethan had been traveling through Europe with Vanessa, I had been rebuilding the future I had once abandoned to marry him.

Meanwhile, Ryan started legal proceedings over property and gifts he claimed had been given to Vanessa under specific agreements.

Their disputes became increasingly ugly.

Eventually, I stopped caring.

I had no interest in spending the rest of my life watching them destroy one another.

I expected the divorce to take months longer.

Then, a few weeks before I was scheduled to leave, Ethan was involved in another serious road accident.

Vanessa had called him while he was driving.

She needed money.

They argued.

He became distracted and lost control of the vehicle.

He survived.

But his recovery would be long.

When I visited him at the hospital one final time, he seemed strangely calm.

He had signed the divorce papers.