The Love We Missed Chapter 03

The Love We Missed Chapter 03

I took the morning off and arrived at the family courthouse right at nine.

Claire didn’t come. At this stage, even the slightest provocation could make Claire dig her heels in, and I couldn’t risk any friction before the paperwork was filed.

Then I saw Claire standing on the steps outside, Mia beside her.

My stomach tightened. Was she seriously parading our five-year-old out here as leverage?

I walked up and kept my voice low. “Why did you bring her?”

Claire gave me an empty look, then pushed through the heavy glass doors.

“We’re both taking time off anyway, so we might as well get it all done. The title company is twenty minutes away—we can deed the condo into the trust right after.”

I hesitated, then conceded. She wasn’t wrong; taking care of the deed today would save me another trip to the notary down the line.

She hadn’t touched a single line of the asset split.

The only change was child support: bumped from the fifteen hundred we discussed to twenty-five hundred a month.

I initialed it without a fight. Claire lived and breathed for that kid; every dime of that extra grand would go straight to Mia anyway.

Besides, a grand a month was a small price to pay to keep this moving.

After stamping the documents, the clerk shoved our filing confirmation under the glass partition.

“State law mandates a thirty-day waiting period from today’s filing date,” she muttered, not bothering to look up.

“If neither party withdraws the petition, the final decree will go to the judge for signature.”

I frowned, leaning closer. “We’ve agreed on everything—custody, assets, property. Why the hell do we have to wait thirty days?”

“State law, sir. Next in line, please.”

Her bureaucratic wall of silence cut me off entirely.

From the courthouse, we drove across town to the title company.

Forty minutes of mindless signatures, and the deed was officially transferred.

As of this morning, the thirty-day clock was ticking.

In the parking lot, I called my realtor and told him to get the house listed by the weekend.

Leaning against the car, I lit a cigarette and watched Claire buckle Mia in.

A strange, hollow pang settled in my chest.

I took a long drag and let the smoke drift out into the humid air, but the weight didn’t lift.

Then my phone buzzed. It was Vivian.

“Babe,” her voice slipped through the line, light and mocking.

“I booked lunch at that omakase place downtown. We’re celebrating your upcoming bachelorhood.”

I closed my eyes. The tightness in my chest vanished instantly.

Why get sentimental? I chose this. I chose Vivian.

Claire was handing me an effortless exit, and I should have been thrilled.

Habit is a treacherous thing. You can be completely done with a life, but your instincts still twitch when the leash is suddenly unclipped.

“Are you coming or what?” Vivian asked, laughing into the phone.

“On my way,” I said.

I ground the cigarette under my heel, got behind the wheel, and merged into the midday rush.

I left the past in the rearview mirror and hit the gas toward my new life.