"Maybe after our arrangement is done and the divorce is finalized. Then I'll be sipping margaritas on some island somewhere."
As we continued walking, our conversation drifted to lighter topics. He told me about the headaches of taking over the company fully, the endless boardroom battles, and how even power could feel suffocating when you never asked for it. I confessed my reluctance at being dragged dress-shopping with our mothers.
And in the quiet space between his laughter and my sighs, I let myself imagine a future. A future where I would find the person who broke me. Where I would look them in the eye and tell them that I had risen from the ashes they tried to bury me in. That I had built something stronger from the ruin they left behind.
For now, though, I let myself walk beside Richard, the boy I once hated. And though I would never admit it out loud, I found that I didn't mind the sound of his footsteps next to mine.
******