I left before sunrise while Gregory slept. The decision had not happened in one night. I had been making it for six years, one removed group chat at a time. In my sister’s closet was a folder containing a signed lease, a family-law consultation, and savings from bookkeeping after Daisy’s bedtime. Gregory believed I had no door because he never looked behind him. I left my ring and one line: “Add me back. I will not be there.”
Before carrying Daisy to the car, I stopped outside Oliver’s room. He was twelve, asleep with one hand clutching his blanket, as he had at seven when I sat beside him until crying stopped. I remembered the emergency room and his hand in mine. I slipped a note beneath his pillow: “I loved you when no one asked me to. That was never your fault.” Then I closed his door and left. Click continue reading below for Part2
