After being awarded my divorce, I remain seated in the now-empty courtroom, my hands resting limply in my lap as I try to steady my breathing.Moments ago, this room was suffocating—filled with voices, tension, judgment. Now it’s eerily quiet, the kind of silence that hums in your ears. The world that had been spinning relentlessly around me has finally begun to slow, and for the first time in what feels like years, I can breathe.Really breathe.Relief settles into my chest, heavy and unfamiliar. It isn’t joy—not quite—but it’s something close. Something fragile. Like if I move too quickly, it might shatter.“Are you ready?”Lincoln’s voice breaks through the stillness as he steps out of the judge’s chambers, gently closing the door behind him. The soft click echoes louder than it should. When I look up at him, I catch the small smile tugging at his lips—subtle, but laced with his own quiet relief.“I think so,” I answer, my voice barely above a whisper, as if speaking too loudly mig
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