The whole drive, I couldn't stop my mind from wandering.
Thinking about my past with Drew.
Thinking about how grueling the road here had been.
The more I thought, the less any of it felt worth it.
Over the years, plenty of companies had come knocking.
Salary and benefits ten times what Stellaris Group was giving me, easily.
I couldn't let go of Drew, so I turned them down, again and again.
Stayed stuck at the deputy director level, year after year.
Watching one new hire after another climb right over my head.
Before all this, I could still tell myself it meant something—that Drew had a plan for me.
When we married, he told me half of Stellaris Group would always be mine.
I never saw the need to fight over things like that.
But Shelagh Pruitt's appearance made it impossible to keep lying to myself.
By the time I got home, I was choking on everything I'd swallowed that day.
I picked up my phone and scrolled for a long time, looking for someone—anyone—I could call. There was no one.
Eight years with Drew Henson.
I'd already lost my friends, my life, all of it.
My world had shrunk to nothing but work.
And now work was gone too.
I was driftwood with no roots.