Chapter 5

It was barely dawn when I returned to the apartment.

My suitcase was waiting by the door.

My passport, employment contract, divorce documents, and the box of letters my grandmother had left me were already packed.

My wedding ring remained exactly where I had placed it on the coffee table.

I did not touch it again.

I had said goodbye to everything that mattered the night before.

I paused in the doorway only long enough to photograph the room and the ring for Clifton's records. Then I took my suitcase and closed the door behind me.

Five years of marriage…