The business remained open.

That mattered to me more than seeing Gavin publicly humiliated.

The divorce itself was not a single triumphant courthouse scene.

There were forms, schedules, disclosures, and days when I could not bear to read another page with our names on it.

There were moments of grief that surprised me: finding the old photograph from our honeymoon, remembering the first apartment we shared, wondering when laughter at our kitchen table had become something I braced myself to hear.

I spoke with a counselor and learned that missing the good moments did not cancel the truth of the bad ones.