Chapter 10 - CheckmateThe rain in Seattle always came back eventually.
It was a quiet, steady drizzle that washed the city clean, stripping away the dust, the grime, and the old debris of winters past.
Standing on the private balcony of my home, watching the gray mist roll lazily over the dark waters of Lake Washington, I held little Leo safely against my chest. He stirred in his sleep, letting out a soft, contented sigh before settling back into the warmth of my arms.
Down below, life moved on with the indifferent rhythm of the city. People hurried under umbrellas, cars hissed along the wet asphalt, and the world kept spinning without missing a single beat.
I thought back to that cold, rainy morning at the King County Courthouse six months ago.
Ethan had stood there in his polished navy suit, looking at me with absolute pity, believing he had outsmarted fate, successfully traded down his past, and secured an empire built on deception.
He had walked away believing he was the victor, completely blind to the fact that the ground beneath his feet was already made of glass.
Some people spend their entire lives chasing power, status, and the illusion of control, destroying everything good in their path just to feed an insatiable ego. And when the walls finally collapse around them, they wonder why nobody was there to catch them when they fell.
I kissed the soft top of my son’s head, breathing in the sweet, clean scent of new life.
Ethan had married his mistress forty-three minutes after our divorce became official.
May you like
And in doing so, he had handed me the keys to the entire kingdom.
The game was over. The board was cleared. And we had won.
