Chapter 3 - The Departure
December 23rd arrived with a biting, winter chill. The sun had barely crested over the Brooklyn skyline when Mariana stepped out of the brownstone. Her bags were packed, waiting for the town car.
She stood in the center of the living room one last time. It was perfectly clean, silent, and empty. She had left a single envelope on the dining room table. Inside were the signed divorce papers and a formal notice of the impending foreclosure. She hadn't just paid for the house; she held the private mortgage note, a detail Alexander had been too arrogant to ever verify.
She didn't wake Camila. She couldn't. It would break both their hearts, and she had to be the adult in a room full of children. She had left a letter for the girl, tucked under her pillow, explaining that she was going on a long journey, and that she would always, always be in her heart.
Alexander stumbled down the stairs, looking as though he hadn't slept in forty-eight hours. He saw the envelope on the table. He saw the bags by the door.
"You can't just leave," he said, his voice a pathetic, trembling shadow of his usual arrogance. "What about the legal repercussions? What about the scandal? You’re a high-level executive—people will talk."
"Let them," Mariana said, opening the front door. The cold air rushed in, bracing and sharp. "The difference between you and me, Alexander, is that I have a reputation earned by merit. You have a reputation built on my coat-tails. When the world looks at us, they’re going to see a man who lost his family to an affair, and a woman who finally woke up."
"Mariana, please," he said, taking a step toward her, his hand reaching out. "Think about Camila. She’ll wake up and you’ll be gone. She’ll hate you."
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"She’ll hate you for letting me go," Mariana said, and for the first time, a flicker of true, devastating pain crossed her face. She closed the door on him, effectively sealing the coffin on their twelve-year history.
As the car pulled away, she didn't look back at the brownstone. She looked at her phone, watching the flight status to Seattle change to Boarding.
