YELENA

The papers in my hand felt heavier than bricks. My fingers shook as I stepped out of the courthouse where they issued the divorce documents. I should feel relief, right? That I finally did it. That I finally signed up to let my heart breathe a little. But all I felt was heat burning under my skin. My chest is tight. My legs were numb.

Almost three years of marriage. Three long, dragging, breath-stealing years. And it felt like ten.

I begged my parents to talk to him more times than I ...