Months later, the estate in Tahoe feels like a completely different world. It is lighter and filled with actual laughter instead of the forced social climbing of the past. I changed every lock, every password, and every habit that reminded me of that toxic era.
People often ask me when I officially stopped loving him. It wasn’t the airport scream or the stolen credit card. It was much earlier, on the day I realized I was just a resource to him—an object to be used until it was dry.
The last time a reporter asked how I felt about the “scandalous” divorce, I looked around my quiet, sun-drenched office and smiled. “I felt a massive, overwhelming sense of relief.”
Preston thought the divorce was my punishment, but he never understood that it was actually my reward. It was the only way I could finally be free.
THE END.
