Jason was inside, unrecognizable with his long hair and beard. And he wasn’t alone. A woman stood beside him, her hand resting on his arm, and they looked…comfortable, like they belonged together.
Pushing open the door, I confronted Jason. He looked at me with shock and guilt, barely able to meet my eyes. “I found something real here, Maggie,” he said quietly. “I couldn’t breathe in that old life.”
Trembling, I reminded him of the family he’d left behind, of the children who thought he was dead. But he insisted, “This is my life now.”
I left that cabin, shattered but resolute. The man I’d once known was truly gone.
The next morning, I walked into a lawyer’s office and asked for a divorce, determined to create a stable life for my kids. Jason had found his own version of freedom, but now, I was finding mine.