Hypothetical orbital evolution of the remnant binary system. The ratio of present-day to initial orbital separation, a/a_i, is plotted as a function of the mass of the remnant primary star, M₁. Evolution is from right to left, that is, from high masses M₁ to low masses. The initial companion masses are M_2i = 1.4 M_⊙ and 5.0 M_⊙, and three different mass ejection fractions β are applied for each mass.