I had the divorce papers tucked in the glove compartment of my car the night everything changed. They were folded perfectly, like a confession I was both ashamed of and proud to make. The xeroxed forms were stamped with the county seal, my signature scribbled across the line like a rehearsal I’d run a thousand times in my mind. Signed. Dated. Ready to be filed first thing Monday morning. I had my speech prepared, calm and precise: “We’ve grown apart,” I would say. “This isn’t working anymore.” No drama, no

After Silence The chandeliers of the Westwood Hotel sparkled like captured stars, casting fractured rainbows across the marble floors and velvet carpets. Laughter bubbled in polite bursts, champagne glasses chimed, and the air thrummed with ambition. Every corner of the ballroom was alive—politicians whispering deals, philanthropists exchanging polite smiles, and CEOs nodding over the hum of conversation. Meline Foster stayed near the back, almost invisible in her simple black cocktail dress—the only one she owned that fit this kind of event. At twenty-eight, she wasn’t here to be seen or

The October Rain That Changed Everything The windshield wipers on Jasper Tate’s old Civic slapped the October rain like impatient drumbeats. But no matter how fast they moved, they couldn’t clear the fog of guilt clouding his mind. Eighteen minutes. That’s all he had to clock in at Valmont Industries, or Frank Morrison’s final warning would stick. He could still see Frank’s fat finger hovering over the time clock like a judge’s gavel. One more minute late, Tate. One more minute, and you’re done. Industrial Boulevard gleamed wet and slick,