There were moments when I almost called him and begged him to come back.
Not because I wanted him.
But because I was terrified of what my life would look like without the man I had spent 17 years building it with.
I had to learn how to wake up without him, make decisions without him, and rebuild a life I never imagined I would have to live alone.
And slowly, something changed.
The woman who had spent years believing she wasn’t young enough, beautiful enough, or good enough began to disappear.
In her place was someone who finally understood that Derek’s cruel words had never defined her worth.
And just when I thought the worst was behind me, I learned that Derek’s new life with Tanya wasn’t turning out the way he had imagined.
That was when everything began to change.