There was no cinematic silence afterward.

Someone asked for a document, a printer jammed, and the mediator called a break.

Real endings, I learned, involved more administrative work than dramatic speeches.

Eventually we reached a settlement after counsel addressed the remaining financial disputes.

The court finalized the divorce later, according to its own schedule.

On the day I received the final order, I went for a walk beside the river.

I expected relief to arrive like a wave.