A Marriage Never Meant To Be

ed coffee shop near the university, a place that smelled of old books and roasted beans. He was a man

black coffee. "It's good to

tatement. "Professor, I wanted to thank you for s

s glasses. "You did? That's wonderful news. It's a high

id quietly. "I l

, that's incredibly fast. What abo

for years; he' d met Ethan at graduation parties and award ceremonies. He

with genuine concern. "Are you sure you've thought this through? These

ldn't tell him everything. I couldn't tell him about the broken watch, or the cold emptiness

e always told me to chase the story, no matter where it led. He w

was both true and a lie. He would have wanted me to be happ

ture message. It was a photo of two wedding bands,

and I saw them today. I

wedding rings with his mother, moving forward with this charade as if nothi

back into my purse,

mply nodded, a deep understanding in his eyes. "Alright, Ava. If t

let it ring a few times before answeri

icture?" he asked,

e," I said, the wor

I was thinking about the watch. We should really get that replaced. Mom sa

ft to me an upgrade. He was devaluing my grief, my me

I saw," he went on, oblivious. "It

shed in my mind. The tiny, delicate hands frozen at the exa

You

e a hollow whisper. "I have

s Chloe likes on you. We're going out tomorrow

ere was no going back. There was no fixing this. He had made that perfectly, painfully clear. My escape plan wasn't just a possibility anymore. It was a necessity.