Chapter 11 - The Empty Guest Room
I renovated the guest room.
Not because Marjorie had slept there.
Because I wanted the room to stop feeling like a battlefield.
I painted it.
Changed the curtains.
Removed the oversized dresser.
Then I turned half of it into a reading room.
My sister visited.
She stood in the doorway and smiled.
“You finally did it.”
“Did what?”
“Made the house yours again.”
I shook my head.
“It was always mine.”
She looked at me.
“You know what I mean.”
I did.
Later, we cooked dinner together.
I opened one of the rescued spice containers.
The smell filled the kitchen.
For some reason, I cried.
My sister did not ask why.
She simply kept chopping vegetables.
That night, my phone buzzed.
Ethan.
Divorce paperwork is ready.
I stared at the message.
Six years reduced to documents.
Then another message appeared.
I’m sorry, Claire. No excuse. Just sorry.
For the first time, I believed him.
It changed nothing.
May you like
But it mattered.
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