Shauna was right.
The main thing was that she hadn’t closed her eyes, endured it, or forgiven him.
She had left.
And that was the right thing to do.
They stayed up until midnight talking about nonsense—work, vacation plans, the new series Shauna was binging.
Kiana listened, laughed, drank tea with honey, and felt the tension of the past few days gradually melt away.
She got home late.
The apartment greeted her with silence and darkness.
Kiana turned on the light and walked through the rooms.
Everything was in place.
Everything was calm.
She went to bed and, for the first time in several weeks, fell asleep immediately, without anxious thoughts or nightmares.
The following week, Kiana took a day off and went to the county clerk’s office downtown.
Filing for divorce turned out to be surprisingly simple.
Darius didn’t object.
He even showed up without a reminder, signed all the papers in silence, and left without saying goodbye.
Kiana watched him walk away down the polished hallway and felt nothing.
No pity, no anger, no regret.
Just an emptiness that wasn’t oppressive or tormenting, but rather liberating.
A month later, the divorce was finalized.
Kiana received the certificate, put it in her document folder at home, and breathed a sigh of relief.
That was it.
Period.
A new chapter in her life.
In November, she signed up for English language courses at the community college.
She had long wanted to brush up on her skills but never had the time.
Now she had time to spare.
In the evenings, she sat at her kitchen table with her textbooks, listened to podcasts, and watched movies in English with subtitles.
In December, something pleasant happened at work.
