Signed Mrs. Sterling Chapter 18
The day I left the hospital, the sun was shining for the first time in what felt like forever.
A newly repaired black SUV was parked at the entrance—it was Sebastian’s spare car.
He was leaning against the door, wearing sunglasses. Leo was in his car seat in the back, waving a tiny French flag and yelling, “Auntie! Auntie, hurry up!”
I smiled at Leo through the window but didn’t get in.
Sebastian took off his sunglasses, his own smile fading.
“Where are you going? Back to Montauk? I’ll drive you.”
“I bought a ticket to Paris for this afternoon. One way.” I showed him the e-ticket on my phone.
Sebastian was stunned.
“Paris? Why?”
“Because New York is too loud,” I said, taking a deep breath of the city air that still smelled of anxiety and ambition. “I want to see the Seine. I want to drink a real cup of coffee on the Left Bank. I want to live a life where nobody knows me, where I don’t have to be ‘someone’s wife’ or ‘someone’s mother.'”
Sebastian was silent. He looked at me, a complex mix of emotions swirling in his eyes—admiration, sadness, and a hint of a desire to ask me to stay.
But he was a smart man. He knew this wasn’t the time.
“Okay. Paris is a good choice.”
He stepped closer and pulled a business card from his jacket pocket, pressing it into my hand.
“This is the address of my firm’s Paris office. If you ever run into any trouble, or… if you just want to get a decent cup of coffee with someone, call me anytime.”
He paused and gestured to Leo in the car. “That kid has declared that he will only eat your spaghetti bolognese from now on. So, I might have to take him on a ‘business trip’ to Paris very soon.”
I looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Goodbye, Sebastian.”
I stepped forward and gave him a brief hug. It was short, but it was warm, filled with the restraint of friendship and the possibility of a future.
A taxi pulled up beside me.
The driver put my suitcase in the trunk.
“Where to, miss?”
“The airport, please.”
I got into the car and didn’t look back—not at the city that had nearly suffocated me, and not at the man standing on the curb.
Through the rearview mirror, I saw Sebastian still standing there, watching me go.
In the distance, the Manhattan skyline glittered under the sun, both cruel and captivating.
But I didn’t belong there anymore.
My future was ahead of me, up in the clouds, and anywhere else I wanted it to be.
(The End)