"Nora, are you and the baby okay?"

The baby? My hand flew to my belly.

Flat. That kid was long gone.

After the divorce from Benjamin, I'd had an abortion.

I never expected Benjamin to turn over a new leaf.

And even if he had, it would have meant squat to me.

Because the pain? That stuff was permanent.

"The day after our divorce was finalized, I got the abortion," I told him, my voice as cool as ice.

He laughed at first, then it morphed into gut-wrenching sobs. Tears and snot were everywhere.

"You heartless b! I actually believed your lies back then!"

Whatever. Benjamin had gotten hurt saving my life, so I covered his hospital bills, hired him a top-notch private nurse, and then I bounced.

Benjamin could blow some of my cash, sure, but he wasn't getting any more of my time.

The thought of him hurting every single day, a constant reminder of his own stupidity, gave me a dark sense of amusement.

After the divorce, I ghosted my job.

Thanks to Benjamin, I'd walked away with a hefty settlement. Enough to travel the world and live out my days chilling, no stress. I’d been grinding for years; it was time for a different vibe.

My supervisor had said on my last day, "Nora, the door's always open if you wanna come back!"

I just smiled and waved, "Sure thing!"

I hit the road, painting wherever I landed. I started an online gallery, posting my art daily. My follower count blew up.

Then I noticed this one account that always hit the like button the second I posted. No profile pic, just a default username. Didn't matter. Who cared anymore?

If fate snatched away precious love, then so be it. I'd just enjoy life. After all, they say: no love, no fear.

One evening, I got home to find Benjamin camped out on my doorstep. He was wearing a rumpled t-shirt, his fancy suit pants looking all sorts of sloppy, the effortless cool he once had completely gone.

He saw me, scrambled to his feet, and stumbled over. He claimed he’d been trying to catch me for a while.

He suggested a nearby cafe. I shut him down. "This bench is fine," I said, pointing to a spot by the road.

He told me Sophia got nailed for attempted murder and would be doing hard time. She’d apparently had a complete mental breakdown from the series of blows and was now suffering from delusional disorder. Oh, and she lost the baby, too. Prison wouldn't be a walk in the park.

I smirked. "What? You still want to go bail her out?" Even I was surprised at the words tumbling out of my mouth. That thing that used to rip my heart out, now I could joke about it. It’s true, there’s no mountain too high in this world.

He managed a smile too. "Nah. After all this, even the deepest obsession can be let go." Sophia had been an obsession. Briefly having her made him realize an obsession is just that. People just don't appreciate things until they're gone. But some things? Gone for good.

He mentioned he'd started a new venture, a gaming company. Startup life, though. Tough times.