His Betrayal, Her Unbreakable Resolve

ing beneath my silence. Mark had offered a flimsy excuse about driving a colleague home, a colleague who lived conveniently far away. I knew he was lying. He just needed to escape

ery "I love you" was now tain

sit here in the wreckage,

name and pressed call. It rang once, twice, three times. The sound echoed i

ked, his voice a little too

king. Of co

wn voice flat and unrecogniza

hear music in the background, something low and indistinct. "Look, Chloe,

im off. "Just st

other end of the

he finally said, his tone sh

my voice gaining a hard edge

dropping Steve off. I'

is S

und music seemed to stop, or maybe I just could

was trying to sound calm, reasonable, but I could hear the panic underneath. He

e to our son' s christening, Mark. She stood in our garden and

iting, trying to figure out how mu

erpower the pain. "A silver ring. It looked so familiar, I couldn't figure out why at firs

phone. The flimsy excuses, the carefully construc

ted, letting the silence stretch, wanting him to suffer in it. "'M+S, Forever.' It'

ission of every lie, every betrayal, every moment he had lo

ge, he was a man who was already committed to someone else. The trust I had given him so freely felt like a sickness in my gut now, a naivety so profound it made me physically