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The ink wasn’t even dry on our divorce agreement, and he’d moved her in.

Our six years of marriage disposed of like trash.

My shaking hand signed away our life together.

Completely devastated, never thinking it would come to this, tears flowed freely down my cheeks.

I never saw myself as a divorcee, always believing our marriage could survive anything.

The fairy-tale ending that everyone craved would be mine.

I imagined we would grow old together in a beachfront cottage overlooking the sea.

Our wedding day is ingrained in my memory like it was yesterday.

It was the happiest day of my life. Our friends’ cheerful faces filled the room as I walked down the red-carpeted aisle.

They smiled broadly as I passed, offering their congratulations before the ceremony had even begun.

Pots of white lilies were dispersed around the room, and an intricate metal archway defined where the ceremony would take place.

Everything was exactly as it was planned to be.

Perfect.

“This is so romantic,” my best friend, Sophie, had squealed when I told her my news. “I can’t believe you’re getting married.”

“I know it’s quick,” I replied shyly. “But it feels so right. And with everything that happened… surely, I deserve a happy ending.”

“You do, Nicky,” she said and wrapped me tightly in her arms. “After everything, you deserve the best ending.”

Our families didn’t attend our big day—they didn’t agree with our union. Our relationship was young, but it worked. Since we’d met four months earlier, we hadn’t left each other’s side. Almost every night we shared a bed, and I couldn’t imagine having an empty space in mine again.

Neither of us was young—for both of us, time was passing fast, and I’d lost so much of it. After being locked away like a caged animal for years, only to be allowed out when the judge permitted my freedom, I planned to live the rest of my life to the fullest.

“It will all end in tears,” my mother had said. “He’s not the one for you. You’ve only just got your life back.”

“It’s too quick to be making a commitment like this,” his mother warned him. “Why are you rushing to tie each other down? She’s a convict. You can’t delete a criminal record. It will tarnish both your lives forever. It will bring shame on our family.”

We ignored them.

We loved each other.

It was none of their business. They didn’t understand how we felt. They had never been in love the way we were.

If we were together, we could take on the world.