Chapter 12 - THE DAY I STOPPED BEING MRS. MERCER
The divorce proceedings took time.
There were financial records to review.
Assets to value.
Questions about the Eastbridge transfers.
And difficult conversations about what had happened to our marriage.
Daniel eventually acknowledged the affair.
He also admitted that he had discussed divorce before telling me.
His business conduct remained subject to separate review.
I did not celebrate his difficulties.
I had loved him once.
Part of me always would.
But love did not require me to remain married to someone who had repeatedly deceived me.
When the divorce was finalized, I walked out of the courthouse into bright spring sunlight.
Rebecca stood beside me.
“How do you feel?”
I considered.
“Sad.”
She nodded.
“Anything else?”
I smiled.
“Free.”
I returned to using my maiden name.
Claire Bennett.
I updated my professional records.
My bank accounts.
My email signature.
Then I stood in front of the mirror in my apartment.
A small apartment.
Not a penthouse.
But mine.
I looked at my reflection.
No emerald dress.
No diamonds chosen by someone else.
No instructions about how to stand.
Just me.
That evening, I called Margaret.
“I'd like to take on a permanent role.”
She laughed.
“I was wondering when you'd ask.”
I became director of development for the Harbor Children's Initiative.
The salary was modest compared with Daniel's former lifestyle.
But the work mattered.
I slept better.
I laughed more.
I stopped checking my phone every time I heard an elevator.
May you like
And slowly, the woman I'd been before marriage began to feel less like a memory.
She began to feel like my future.
