sie

cleaned. I packed. I systematically dismantled the life we had supposedly built together. With each i

posing with Ethan at a charity gala, her hand possessively intertwined with his. He was smiling, a genuine, dazzling smile that he rarely bestowed upon me anymor

mage to sink in. My resolve was a fragile thin

ouse. They were already worried; my voice

ng mine as I walked through the door. My father, usually stoic,

I said, the words falling

everything alright with Ethan?" Her immediate concern was for hi

ng to work. We decided to go our separate ways." I kept the details vague, a shield against their inevita

's a good man." His eyes held a subtle, unarticulated skepticism, a slight flicker of

ut they loved me, and protecting them from the true extent of his deceit fe

"It's for the best. I'm going to take

ces. They wanted me to be happy. They just didn't und

nly accessible by me. I sold off our joint assets quickly, efficiently, leaving Ethan with a hefty sum from the sale of my car and a generous portion

asure, I blocked him on every social media platform, deleting my own accounts where necessary. I wanted no tr

ment, now nearly empty, felt vast and silent. The echoes of our life together were fading, r

ce of my belongings, the quiet shift in my demeanor-he hadn't noticed any of it. He was too busy being the center of Kiera's univers

strative tasks were done. The airline ticket was purchased. M

y bare walls and the ghost of a shared past. A single fork, a paper pl

e had been so proud of his role in their lives. He had been so blind to the wreckage he caused in ours. My soul,

d delivered a lie. But the lie,