Chloe sat at the edge of the bed, fingers curled around the fabric of her blanket, staring at the sliver of light stretching across the floor.
It wasn't morning yet, but sleep had never come.
The house was still. Carter's soft breathing filtered from the other room. Kevin hadn't followed her—not yet, maybe not ever.
And here she was, at the end of something that had been unraveling for longer than she cared to admit.
She exhaled. Slowly. Steadying herself against the empty space beside her.
She thought about everything that had led to this—every quiet compromise, every exhausted attempt, every moment she chose understanding over confrontation.
She thought about the love that had once filled this home, the partnership that had once felt unshakable.
And she thought about how much she had sacrificed to hold something together that Kevin had already let slip through his fingers.
Her throat tightened. Not from grief, not even from anger. From acceptance.
Because love could break.
Because love could fade.
Because love could stop feeling like love long before anyone was ready to admit it.
And now, she wasn't mourning the relationship.
She was mourning the woman she had been inside of it.
The woman who had tried. Who had fought. Who had given everything and then some.
She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, swallowing back the weight of it all.
It was done.
She had already made her choice.
Now she just had to figure out how to move forward.