Claire met his gaze.
“No.”
He blinked, surprised.
“You didn’t even think about it—”
“I did,” she said. “Three years ago.”
Her voice remained calm.
“When you decided I didn’t deserve a seat on that plane.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“I made a mistake…”
“No,” she said.
“That wasn’t a mistake. It was a decision.”
The words settled between them.
Final.
Unchangeable.
Claire leaned forward slightly.
“And I made one too.”
He looked at her.
“I decided not to be the woman who waits to be chosen.”
A pause.
“I chose myself.”
There was nothing left to argue.
Nothing left to fix.
Claire leaned back.
“Your five minutes are over.”
He stood there for a moment longer.
Looking around.
At the order.
The calm.
The life she had built without him.
And for the first time…
he understood.
He hadn’t been replaced.
He had been left behind.
He turned.
Walked to the door.
“I’m glad you’re doing well,” he said quietly.
Claire didn’t answer.
The door closed.
And with it…
the last piece of that chapter ended.
That afternoon, she left early.
Her son was waiting outside school.
When he saw her, he ran toward her, smiling.
“Mom, I won the race today!”
She crouched down, pulling him into a hug.
“You always do,” she whispered.