“It was the dream itself—replaced by quiet blame and dwindling affection.”

He could see it—how easily a life gets swept up in all that. How fast it all slips by. For a brief moment, he thought of Savannah—of their arguments over late bills, the credit card debt he could never quite pay down, the way her voice would shake when she said, “This isn’t the life I signed up for.” Back then, he’d convinced himself he could climb his way out of it, hustle until things turned around. But it wasn’t just money they lost. It was the dream itself—replaced by quiet blame and dwindling affection.