There was nothing for me there. I was tired of her. Tired of the yelling, the insults that cut deeper than knives, the way her hand would smack across my cheek without warning. I had lived with her abuse for so long that I couldn’t even remember what it was like to feel safe around her. And I wasn’t a child anymore—I was twenty-three. I had the right to choose where I wanted to be, and for the first time in my life, I chose myself. I chose peace.
Luca didn’t press me. He just nodded, his sharp eyes softening for a moment as if he understood exactly why I couldn’t go back to her. That simple gesture meant more than words. He didn’t pity me. He didn’t try to convince me otherwise. He just… accepted it.
The divorce itself had been brutal, but not for Luca. He handled it with the kind of col
