Chapter 16 - The Final Decree
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The day the divorce was officially finalized, it was raining heavily outside the courthouse. My sister pushed my wheelchair out of the grand oak doors and onto the covered portico.
I held the thick manila envelope containing the final decree in my lap. It felt heavier than the medical bills Caleb had thrown at me months ago, but this weight was wonderful. It was the weight of complete freedom.
Caleb walked out a few minutes later, holding an umbrella. He stopped and looked at me, his face twisted in a mixture of anger and disbelief that he had actually lost.
"You're making a massive mistake," Caleb muttered, pulling up his collar. "Nobody is going to want a broken woman with a kid. You'll be begging to come back in a year."
I looked up at him, feeling a profound sense of pity for the pathetic man he truly was.
"I would rather be broken on my own terms than whole in your house," I replied calmly.
He scowled, turned on his heel, and walked out into the pouring rain.
I didn't watch him leave. I turned to my sister, who was smiling brightly down at me.
"Ready to go home?" she asked.
May you like
"Yes," I said, breathing in the cool, rain-washed air. "Take me home to my daughter."
Leaving Caleb wasn't the end of my life. It was the absolute beginning.
