The Fifth Anniversary

from that front door felt like a step toward an unknown, terrifying future, but it was also a step away from the pain tha

ere so young, so full of dreams. We had walked through the empty rooms, planning

d all my energy into my career in marketing, trying to build something, anything, to fill the void.

ht you on the house," she warned. "His mother is funding his leg

I built a life there. I'm not walking away with nothing." I was no longer the fragi

and haggard, the charm replaced by a desperate edge. "Ava, please," he said, tryi

ng to talk about, Liam. You made your

to accusatory. "You're doing this just to hurt me. Because you can't

vulnerable. And for a moment, they did. The old pain flared up,

s is my fault? That my barren body drove you to another woman's bed? You are a p

realize that the Ava he knew, the one who would have forgiven anything, wa

ontation had drained me, but it had also solidified my resolve. I w

dn't felt in a long time. It wasn't happiness, not yet. It was freedom. The fr