Chapter 18 - A New Chapter Begins
By late summer, the legal paperwork was fully signed, notarized, and filed with the New York Supreme Court. The marriage was officially dissolved, cleanly and permanently.
Michael had moved out of our old Manhattan apartment into a modest studio apartment downtown, having finally cut financial ties with Carol and Jessica to pay his own way. According to mutual acquaintances, Jessica had been forced to enroll Tony in the local public school, and Carol was frantically trying to downsize her lifestyle as her pension stretched thinner by the month.
They had tried to reach out a few times—apologetic text messages from Michael, passive-aggressive voice memos from Carol—but I had changed my phone number entirely, leaving only my email open for necessary child-related correspondence through our lawyers.
On a warm September afternoon, I stood in the nursery of my new townhouse—a bright, airy property I had purchased entirely in my own name in a quiet Westchester neighborhood just five minutes from my parents.
The walls were painted a soothing sage green. A white wooden crib sat beneath a mobile of painted stars.
I rested both hands gently against my swelling belly, feeling a strong, energetic kick from within.
May you like
“We did it, little one,” I whispered softly to the empty room. “We built our own foundation.”
---
