Chapter 9 - Reclaiming the Light
Two months later, the spring sun was shining bright over the city.
The divorce was finalized. I retained sixty percent of our marital liquid assets, full ownership of my freelance business, and a monthly child support arrangement that was automatically garnished from Ryan’s remaining trust distributions.
I bought a small, beautiful two-bedroom townhouse in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood near Maya’s apartment. It had a private, fenced-in backyard with a small wooden swing set and a garden where white hydrangeas were beginning to bloom.
On a warm Saturday afternoon, Maya and Sarah joined us for a outdoor lunch on the patio.
Emma was running across the grass in a pink sunshirt, chasing butterflies with a small plastic net, her giggles floating through the afternoon air like music.
"Look at her," Maya smiled, sipping her iced tea. "She hasn't mentioned her grandmother or Ryan in weeks."
"She's sleeping through the night now, too," I said, leaning back in my patio chair, feeling a deep, peaceful warmth in my chest that I hadn't felt in four years. "No night terrors. No clinging to my leg whenever a door closes."
My phone chimed on the patio table.
It was an automated notification from the OurFamilyWizard app. Ryan had sent his monthly court-ordered update through his attorney.
He was living in a small rented apartment downtown, attending his court-mandated parenting classes twice a week, and attempting to rebuild his career after being officially terminated from Vance Logistics. His mother had accepted a plea bargain in her criminal case—paying a fifteen-thousand-dollar fine, completing one hundred hours of community service, and remaining on strict probation.
They had kept their money and their large, empty mansion, but they had lost the only thing that truly mattered: the future.
May you like
I didn't open the message. I simply closed the app, flipped my phone face down on the table, and looked out over the yard.
I no longer needed to check on them, fear them, or wait for their next move. Their power over our lives had been stripped away, piece by piece, until nothing remained but quiet silence.
