He Locked Me Out Now He’s Begging Me Back Chapter 32
I had just gotten into the car when Daniel grabbed the door again.
“Claire, are you really going to live in a serviced apartment and spend every day buried in that job?” His voice was hoarse. “Is a job really more important than this family?”
I looked at him.
“I used to think family was more important.”
That was why I had taken on more of the mortgage, cared for his mother, and picked up Noah for Tessa. Every time someone crossed a line, I had told myself that family shouldn’t keep score.
Something like hope flickered in Daniel’s eyes.
Then I said, “Now I want to see what my life looks like without this family.”
I shut the door and left him in the rearview mirror.
The serviced apartment was ten minutes from my office. There were no boxes piled to the ceiling like in the ADU, no children’s games blaring in the middle of the night, and no one knocking to ask me about dinner, bills, or school pickup.
In the mornings, I went into project meetings with coffee in hand. At night, I worked out, read, or ate alone at the corner restaurant. Work moved forward more smoothly than I’d expected. I took on an important new project and, for the first time, realized that when all twenty-four hours in a day truly belonged to me, life could feel startlingly full.