[SPEAKER_00]: Divorced men.
[SPEAKER_00]: What did she say when you refused to take her back?
[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't heard from her in three years.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a birthday message.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a stray email.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single accidental like on old photos.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, on a random Tuesday morning, while I was brushing my teeth and scrolling through notifications, there it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, random question, why are you still single?
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at the message for a solid minute.
[SPEAKER_00]: Toothbrush hanging out of my mouth like some kind of idiotic question mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't seen her name on my screen since the day our divorce finalized.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'd both signed the dotted line.
[SPEAKER_00]: She walked out of the courthouse with sunglasses on and her new boyfriend waiting in the car.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I never looked back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I tried not to.
[SPEAKER_00]: I rinsed, spat, wiped my face, then walked around my apartment like a caged animal.
[SPEAKER_00]: That text, seven stupid words brought back everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: The way she used to talk to me like I was her safety net.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her plan B.
[SPEAKER_00]: The guy she married because I was stable, while she secretly resented how boring I was compared to the chaos she craved.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now she was texting me, asking why I was still single?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, how are you?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, sorry for the way things ended, just a dig disguised as a question.
[SPEAKER_00]: I typed three different replies and deleted them all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, I settled on the most neutral thing I could manage.
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't expect to hear from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: She replied instantly, low l i know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just curious.
[SPEAKER_00]: Saw a picture of you in Laura's story.
[SPEAKER_00]: You looked good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura, our mutual friend who never really picked a side.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: But she kept going.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you ever date anyone after me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like serious serious?
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you still in the same apartment?
[SPEAKER_00]: I always loved that view.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I was pacing.
[SPEAKER_00]: What was this?
[SPEAKER_00]: No nostalgia, boredom, guilt, or something else entirely?
[SPEAKER_00]: I finally responded.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's this really about Alice?
[SPEAKER_00]: This time she took her time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Three dots danced on the screen for almost a minute.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then she sent, honestly.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been thinking a lot lately.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wondering if we gave up too fast, I laughed out loud.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, laughed.
[SPEAKER_00]: The kind of laugh that comes from pure disbelief, she gave up.
[SPEAKER_00]: She cheated.
[SPEAKER_00]: She packed her stuff in one afternoon and left.
[SPEAKER_00]: Told me I was too safe that she needed someone who could match her ambition.
[SPEAKER_00]: Enter Ryan, younger, louder, more exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was in marketing or crypto or real estate or whatever hustle she was obsessed with at the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't care.
[SPEAKER_00]: She moved on in record time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now she was wondering.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's your situation these days?
[SPEAKER_00]: She asked, I should have blocked her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right then and there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I needed to hear her say it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's meet up sometime.
[SPEAKER_00]: She wrote next.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just coffee.
[SPEAKER_00]: No pressure.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd like to talk face to face.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I stared out the window of my same old apartment.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one she used to complain about being too quiet.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't quiet now.
[SPEAKER_00]: My heart was pounding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not because I missed her.
[SPEAKER_00]: But because I already knew something was coming.
[SPEAKER_00]: Something messy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Something she wasn't saying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Two days passed before I replied.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not because I wanted her back.
[SPEAKER_00]: But because part of me needed to hear out loud, what she'd say when I told her no, we met at a small cafe we used to love before things went to hell, neutral ground, not too fancy, not too familiar.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was already there when I arrived, black turtleneck, hair up, big sunglasses, like she was playing the role of Regretful X-Wife in a sad little indie movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stood when she saw me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her smile was soft, almost embarrassed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, she said, you look good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I nodded.
[SPEAKER_00]: So do you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lieutenant, she looked tired.
[SPEAKER_00]: The kind of tired that no amount of makeup or lighting can hide, but I wasn't here to flatter her.
[SPEAKER_00]: We sat, ordered coffee, chatted awkwardly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Weather, work.
[SPEAKER_00]: She mentioned she was freelancing now, something about brand strategy.
[SPEAKER_00]: No mention of Ryan.
[SPEAKER_00]: No mention of why she wanted to meet.
[SPEAKER_00]: I waited.
[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, she sighed and leaned forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been doing a lot of thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: She said, fingers tracing the rim of her coffee cup about us, about everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here it comes.
[SPEAKER_00]: She talked about how stable I was, how safe she felt with me, how she never had to worry when I was around, how I listened, how I made her feel seen.
[SPEAKER_00]: All things she'd once mocked as too boring for her, then she said it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I made a mistake.
[SPEAKER_00]: There it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lionide played in my head a thousand times.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not that I wanted to hear it anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sipped my coffee.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let the silence do its work.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, she rushed on.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying we should jump back into anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: But maybe we could talk more.
[SPEAKER_00]: See where things go.
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked her dead in the eye.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not that guy anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: She blinked.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: I set down my cup.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not your fallback.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your comfort zone.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one you crawl back to when things get hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't have to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her smile faltered.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just for a second.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then she said it.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one sentence I didn't expect.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one that would crack this whole thing open.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ryan doesn't know I'm here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just like that, I knew exactly what game she was playing.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I also knew exactly how I'd ended.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just needed her to say a little more.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ryan doesn't know you're here.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked away, stirred her coffee like it might change color.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not what you think.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice hesitated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her fingers twitched against the ceramic mug.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going through things, going through things or broken up.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't answer immediately, just side, then it's complicated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: She always said that when she didn't want to take responsibility.
[SPEAKER_00]: When she wanted me to read between the lines and excuse her behavior because she was overwhelmed.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I waited.
[SPEAKER_00]: She finally muttered.
[SPEAKER_00]: I moved out last week.
[SPEAKER_00]: I raised my eyebrows.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you thought I should be the first person to know?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, she snapped a little too defensively.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just...
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know who else to talk to, that hit harder than I expected, not because I missed her, but because I'd been that guy for so long.
[SPEAKER_00]: The emotional punching bag, the loyal listener, the fallback plan, not anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you talked to Laura?
[SPEAKER_00]: I asked, your sister, literally anyone else.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want their judgment, but mine's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked at me, lips trembling slightly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yours matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: I almost laughed.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because part of me, some stupid stubborn part, still wanted to be seen as the better man.
[SPEAKER_00]: I took a long sip of coffee and let her sit in the silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice shifted in her seat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look, I know I hurt you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I was selfish back then.
[SPEAKER_00]: Back then, I asked quietly.
[SPEAKER_00]: She flinched.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, a lot of the time she corrected.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was caught up in this fantasy of who I thought I needed to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ryan was exciting, and he made me feel wanted in ways I hadn't felt in years.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't react.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd heard that excuse before, but that faded, she added quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: It always fades, and when it did, I realized something.
[SPEAKER_00]: She leaned forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her voice softened.
[SPEAKER_00]: You were the only person who ever made me feel safe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I could be messy and still be loved.
[SPEAKER_00]: I blinked.
[SPEAKER_00]: That felt rehearsed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Too polished.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like something from a breakup recovery podcast, you told me once she continued that you never stopped choosing me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every day, even when I didn't deserve it.
[SPEAKER_00]: My throat tightened.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you still believe that?
[SPEAKER_00]: She asked, I's wide and hopeful.
[SPEAKER_00]: There it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: The question she came for, not about friendship, not closure.
[SPEAKER_00]: She wanted back in.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I hadn't even asked the one question that mattered.
[SPEAKER_00]: What happened with Ryan?
[SPEAKER_00]: I set down my cup.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what exactly happened?
[SPEAKER_00]: Her gaze dropped.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't who I thought he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: He labbered it.
[SPEAKER_00]: She squirmed.
[SPEAKER_00]: He started changing, became jealous, possessive.
[SPEAKER_00]: He'd read my messages, accuse me of cheating if I came home five minutes late.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said I was too much work that I needed therapy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I raised an eyebrow.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice gave a tight smile.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't we all?
[SPEAKER_00]: Fair.
[SPEAKER_00]: He cheated.
[SPEAKER_00]: She added flatly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Three times that I know of.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course he did.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when I confronted him, he told me I should be grateful someone like him even gave me attention.
[SPEAKER_00]: There it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: The exact same words she once used on me when I asked her why she stopped wearing her ring in public.
[SPEAKER_00]: You should be grateful I'm even coming home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Funny how karma never knocks.
[SPEAKER_00]: It kicks the door in.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't come here to dump my trauma on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: She said softly.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just wanted, I don't know, to see if maybe there's still something between us.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, I surprised myself with how fast it came out.
[SPEAKER_00]: No hesitation.
[SPEAKER_00]: No emotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: She blinked.
[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't even think about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't need to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her expression crumpled, but only for a second.
[SPEAKER_00]: She quickly mast it with a shaky laugh.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked around like she was trying to escape the moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then back at me with something sharper in her eyes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess I underestimated how fast you moved on.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't move fast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, I moved forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice clenched her jaw.
[SPEAKER_00]: You used to love me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I used to love the idea of you.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one you pretended to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her face flushed.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this was just pity coffee.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number, it was clarity coffee.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stood up.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stayed seated stunned.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, barely above a whisper, she said, I still have the key to your apartment.
[SPEAKER_00]: My whole body froze for half a beat.
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: I asked, she smirk.
[SPEAKER_00]: I kept it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thought maybe one day I'd use it.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not romantic, I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's disturbing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't change the locks.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I said, because I never imagined you'd be desperate enough to try and come back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her expression darkened.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't act like you're above all this.
[SPEAKER_00]: You liked that I needed you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number, I liked being with someone who respected me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thick and bitter.
[SPEAKER_00]: She finally stood up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Gathered her bag and said, you'll regret this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at her.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only thing I regret is thinking you were ever someone worth waiting for.
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that, I walked out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Heart pounding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not from anger.
[SPEAKER_00]: From release.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it wasn't over.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not even close.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because the next morning, I got blocked by someone I hadn't spoken to in months.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her sister.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then two hours later, Ryan.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, late that night, I received a voice message from an unknown number.
[SPEAKER_00]: From her, drunk, crying, slurring my name, and then something that made my stomach drop.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're the only one left who knows what really happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: The voice message haunted me.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was slurring.
[SPEAKER_00]: Crying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Begging me to call her back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Saying she didn't know who else to turn to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Saying I was the only one who ever truly knew her.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then barely audible at the end.
[SPEAKER_00]: You remember that night on the balcony?
[SPEAKER_00]: When I said no one else would ever see me like you did?
[SPEAKER_00]: You were right.
[SPEAKER_00]: You were right, Mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: Click, that was it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because as much as it stirred something old and raw inside me, it also triggered every buried instinct that once screamed, she's playing you again.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next morning, she messaged me again.
[SPEAKER_00]: A complete one hundred eighty from the voice message.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, sorry about last night.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was embarrassing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pretend it didn't happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I left it on red.
[SPEAKER_00]: An hour later, another message.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm curating a local art exhibit next Friday.
[SPEAKER_00]: You always said you liked my taste in photography.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thought I'd invite you.
[SPEAKER_00]: No pressure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Friends of friends.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura will be there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course.
[SPEAKER_00]: She knew I trusted Laura.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was the safe name to drop.
[SPEAKER_00]: The bridge Alice thought she could rebuild.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't respond right away.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sat with it for a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, despite every red flag waving in my brain, I typed, sure, I'll swing by.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not because I wanted to see Alice, but because I wanted to know what kind of story she was telling now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to whom?
[SPEAKER_00]: Deeper.
[SPEAKER_00]: The gallery was smaller than I expected.
[SPEAKER_00]: Intimate, exposed brick, string lights, overpriced wine and tiny plastic cups.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice always loved this kind of thing, where she could be seen without being too obvious about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I spotted Laura before I spotted her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She waved me over with a smirk.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, well, I was wondering if you'd actually show.
[SPEAKER_00]: I almost didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura sipped her drink.
[SPEAKER_00]: So why did you?
[SPEAKER_00]: I hesitated.
[SPEAKER_00]: More bit curiosity.
[SPEAKER_00]: She laughed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fair.
[SPEAKER_00]: She leaned in and whispered, I assume you've heard.
[SPEAKER_00]: Heard what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura gave me a pointed look.
[SPEAKER_00]: She left Ryan two weeks ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was messy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I blinked.
[SPEAKER_00]: She told me they were just going through things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh honey, Laura said she's been telling everyone you two are talking again.
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not in so many words, but the implication's been floating around.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like she's got some hope pinned on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I turned cold.
[SPEAKER_00]: Has she said it directly?
[SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't have to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura said, she's been dropping breadcrumbs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Emotional Instagram stories, vague captions like starting over with old photos of YouTube.
[SPEAKER_00]: That kind of manipulative nostalgia bait.
[SPEAKER_00]: I clenched my jaw.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura touched my arm.
[SPEAKER_00]: You okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm fine, I lied.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's when I saw her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Standing near the back wall, laughing with two women I didn't recognize.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked polished.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not the wreck from the cafe, not the broken voice from the voicemail.
[SPEAKER_00]: This version was curated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Controlled, performed, and then her eyes found mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: For a second, she paused, like she wasn't sure whether to smile or cry, then she smiled.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like nothing ever happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: She walked over, whine in hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mark, I'm so glad you came.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm nodded.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nice setup.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been a while since I got to do something like this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Feels good.
[SPEAKER_00]: She turned to Laura.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it amazing how time heals everything?
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura gave her a tight smile.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some wounds need more than time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice didn't bite.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was focused on me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I show you something?
[SPEAKER_00]: She asked.
[SPEAKER_00]: I followed her toward a wall lined with photographs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stark, moody shots of urban decay, cracked windows, flooded streets.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her style hadn't changed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dramatic, desaturated, overly poetic.
[SPEAKER_00]: This one, she said, pointing at an image of a rusted fire escape under stormy skies.
[SPEAKER_00]: I call it second exit.
[SPEAKER_00]: I glanced at her.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's supposed to mean something.
[SPEAKER_00]: She smiled faintly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Depends who's looking.
[SPEAKER_00]: She moved closer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Too close.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not trying to pressure you.
[SPEAKER_00]: She said softly.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just...
[SPEAKER_00]: wanted to share something real again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stepped back.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've been telling people we're talking.
[SPEAKER_00]: She flinched.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who said that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Does it matter?
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say anything directly.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not the defense you think it is Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: She crossed her arms.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you even here if you're going to interrogate me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I wanted to see if you were being honest.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked wounded.
[SPEAKER_00]: You think I invited you here to manipulate you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then she whispered, you don't believe people can change, do you?
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe they can.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, I just don't believe you have Alice blinked rapidly.
[SPEAKER_00]: You always think the worst of me.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I said, I think exactly what you show me.
[SPEAKER_00]: She turned away.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe coming here was a mistake.
[SPEAKER_00]: I nodded.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe?
[SPEAKER_00]: She whirled around.
[SPEAKER_00]: I loved you, Mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: You used me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was scared.
[SPEAKER_00]: You were selfish.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tears welled in her eyes.
[SPEAKER_00]: You think I'm lying about what Ryan did?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you're twisting it into something you can use.
[SPEAKER_00]: She gasped like I'd hit her.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanted this to be a chance.
[SPEAKER_00]: She whispered, a beginning.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, it's an ending you're trying to rewrite.
[SPEAKER_00]: I walked away, the gallery buzzed around me.
[SPEAKER_00]: People clinked glasses, music played, Alice stood frozen by her photos, mascara slowly smudging.
[SPEAKER_00]: As I left, Laura caught up to me outside.
[SPEAKER_00]: You okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: She asked?
[SPEAKER_00]: I exhaled.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I finally am.
[SPEAKER_00]: She studied me.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know she's not done, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
[SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't let go easy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not herst to hold anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura nodded slowly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just be careful.
[SPEAKER_00]: I nodded back.
[SPEAKER_00]: But part of me already knew Alice wasn't going to give up quietly.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I wasn't going to be her story's savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Three days of silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: No voice messages.
[SPEAKER_00]: No vague texts.
[SPEAKER_00]: New accidental Instagram likes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, just as I began to believe she'd taken the hint, I opened my front door after work and froze.
[SPEAKER_00]: There, on the floor of my apartment hallway, was a small white envelope.
[SPEAKER_00]: No name.
[SPEAKER_00]: No stamp.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just tucked under my door.
[SPEAKER_00]: Inside, a single key.
[SPEAKER_00]: My key.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one I'd never asked her to return.
[SPEAKER_00]: Attach to it was a yellow sticky note.
[SPEAKER_00]: Four words.
[SPEAKER_00]: You were always right.
[SPEAKER_00]: No signature.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at it for a long time.
[SPEAKER_00]: My hand actually shook, not from fear, from rage, because this was so Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't say, sorry for keeping this.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't even ask to give it back.
[SPEAKER_00]: She made it a statement, a performance.
[SPEAKER_00]: She wanted me to feel something, guilt, regret, nostalgia.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I just felt tired.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, she texted that night.
[SPEAKER_00]: I returned your key.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hope that was okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would love to talk again sometime.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe lunch?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nope, I didn't reply.
[SPEAKER_00]: But two days later, I bumped into her again, not by accident.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was having lunch with a client downtown and as I stepped out of the cafe, there she was across the street standing by her car.
[SPEAKER_00]: She waved, I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: She jogged across like we were old friends reconnecting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mark, I almost didn't recognize you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I doubt that.
[SPEAKER_00]: She smiled a little embarrassed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, yeah, I knew you worked around here.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you were waiting?
[SPEAKER_00]: Coincidence, she lied.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then added, maybe a hopeful one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I exhaled hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice, just five minutes.
[SPEAKER_00]: She said quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please, I should have walked away, but I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: She followed me to the sidewalk bench near the river.
[SPEAKER_00]: We sat in awkward silence, Seagull screaming overhead.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your mad, she finally said, Number, I'm exhausted.
[SPEAKER_00]: From me, from games, from keys, from whatever this is.
[SPEAKER_00]: She turned toward me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not playing games.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just stared at her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She swallowed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, maybe a little, but not because I want to hurt you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then why?
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't answer it first.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, because I want you to fight for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: That stunned me.
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: She pressed on.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to see if you'd care enough to say something, to chase me, to prove I mattered.
[SPEAKER_00]: You left me Alice?
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe I needed you to prove you'd stay.
[SPEAKER_00]: I laughed, short, and bitter.
[SPEAKER_00]: You cheated on me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you wanted me to prove something?
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked down at her lap.
[SPEAKER_00]: You made me feel invisible.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, like I was just a stepping stone to whatever phase came next.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was scared.
[SPEAKER_00]: She whispered, you were selfish.
[SPEAKER_00]: I snapped her eyes flared.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't pretend you were perfect, Mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: I never said I was.
[SPEAKER_00]: You buried your feelings.
[SPEAKER_00]: You shut down when I needed you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I shut down when you shut me out.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you spent nights out, networking, and came home smelling like tequila, and someone else's cologne.
[SPEAKER_00]: She flinched.
[SPEAKER_00]: I begged you to talk to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I continued.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you said I was being insecure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paranoid.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice was silent for a moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, voice trembling.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know what I wanted back then.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now, I know I miss you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stood up.
[SPEAKER_00]: She reached for my hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please, don't walk away again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I yanked my hand back.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't miss me, Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: You miss how I made you feel about yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: You miss being a dord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Being chosen.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you never chose me back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not once.
[SPEAKER_00]: She rose to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her voice went sharp.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't you dare stand there and act like some victim?
[SPEAKER_00]: You think being quiet made you noble?
[SPEAKER_00]: You were emotionally unavailable, Mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had to drag feelings out of you like pulling teeth.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not what you said in therapy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she snapped.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, maybe I was protecting you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I didn't want people to know how cold you really were.
[SPEAKER_00]: I blinked.
[SPEAKER_00]: So now I was the problem all along.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you did.
[SPEAKER_00]: I cut her off.
[SPEAKER_00]: You just did.
[SPEAKER_00]: Congratulations.
[SPEAKER_00]: She shook her head and disbelief.
[SPEAKER_00]: You seriously think you did everything right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Number, but I didn't cheat.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't gaslight.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't vanish for three days without telling anyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't lie to my husband until everyone I was reconnecting with my ex so they'd feel sorry for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stepped back like I'd slapped her and then voice tight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe if you'd fought for me the first time, I wouldn't have looked somewhere else.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stood there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let the words settle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let her hear them echo back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then quietly, I did fight for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: You just weren't worth the bruises.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stared at me, stunned, speechless.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then her face twisted.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her voice turned cold.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you stay alone forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: I nodded once.
[SPEAKER_00]: That makes two of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: I walked away again.
[SPEAKER_00]: This time, not looking back.
[SPEAKER_00]: But something told me she wasn't finished.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because three hours later, I got a call from a blocked number.
[SPEAKER_00]: I let it ring out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then came the voicemail, slurred speech, sniffling, mumbled apologies, and then buried in the middle of the chaos.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything happens to me, it's Ryan's fault.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm scared, Mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really scared.
[SPEAKER_00]: I listened again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, then I sat on the edge of my bed staring at the wall.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because now, I didn't know what was real anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Was she telling the truth?
[SPEAKER_00]: Was this a trap?
[SPEAKER_00]: Or was I watching someone unravel in real time?
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't sleep that night.
[SPEAKER_00]: The voicemail played in my head over and over.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything happens to me, it's Ryan's fault.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm scared, Mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really scared.
[SPEAKER_00]: I should have called the police, or maybe a friend of hers.
[SPEAKER_00]: But instead, I sat there, frozen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd spent years untangling myself from her chaos, and now just a few weeks of contact.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was all seeping back in.
[SPEAKER_00]: The emotional world pools, the guilt, the not knowing what was true and what was manipulation.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next morning, I did something I hadn't done since the divorce.
[SPEAKER_00]: I called her sister.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, Michelle answered, wary.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is unexpected.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm sorry to bother you, but I got a weird voicemail from Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: She mentioned Ryan, said she was scared, silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, Jesus, again, what do you mean again, Michelle side heavily?
[SPEAKER_00]: She's been doing this for months, calling people late at night, crying, saying, Ryan's abusive, then denying everything the next day.
[SPEAKER_00]: She won't leave him, but she also won't stop using everyone around her as an emotional support hotline.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you don't think it's serious?
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it isn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Mark, you're not her savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: And she will drag you back down if you let her.
[SPEAKER_00]: That hit me hard because she was right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thanked her and hung up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I blocked Alice's number, or tried to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because before I could hit confirm, a new message came through.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a voice message this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: A video.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just ten seconds.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice, in her car.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make up streaked, hair a mess, eyes swollen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know who I am anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: She said shaking.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ryan says he's sorry, but then I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to come home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please let me in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Click, no context, no explanation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just emotional bait, dangling on a hook she expected me to bite.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I pressed block and sat in silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: It felt like cutting off a limb.
[SPEAKER_00]: but it was the only way I'd heal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not two days past.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then three, I started breathing easier again, sleeping.
[SPEAKER_00]: The noise in my head quieted, until I got a call from an unknown number, I ignored it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then a message from Laura, did you see Alice's latest story?
[SPEAKER_00]: I opened Instagram.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a long wall of text on a black background.
[SPEAKER_00]: Classic, cry for attention aesthetic.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes the people who promised to protect you just vanish.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not everyone has the strength to keep loving you when you're broken.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I'm not going to apologize for needing help.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: To anyone who ever made me feel like I was too much, maybe you were just not enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the kicker.
[SPEAKER_00]: Funny how the people who said they loved you the most are the first to ghost you when things aren't pretty anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: I read it twice.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were comments already piling up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mutual friends saying, you deserve better.
[SPEAKER_00]: Others writing.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're here for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some shared their own breakup trauma, projecting.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Laura's comments stood out.
[SPEAKER_00]: You should really tell the whole story, Alice, or do you want me to post our messages?
[SPEAKER_00]: Brutal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice deleted that slide within an hour.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the damage was already done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Later that night I got an email.
[SPEAKER_00]: Subject line.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not looking for sympathy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Body.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you probably hate me now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't blame you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't fair.
[SPEAKER_00]: To you.
[SPEAKER_00]: To myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: To anyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I meant it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm scared.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ryan's not who he pretended to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't know who else to turn to.
[SPEAKER_00]: I promised this isn't about getting back together.
[SPEAKER_00]: I swear.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just needed someone who knew me before I lost myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please don't tell anyone about the voicemail, or the video.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was drunk and stupid.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you never want to hear from me again, I'll understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if there's even a tiny part of you that still sees the girl you used to love, just text me.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to say anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll know.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was it.
[SPEAKER_00]: No name at the end.
[SPEAKER_00]: No dramatic signature.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just a blank space where I was supposed to feel something.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't angry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't hurt.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was done.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I did the one thing she never expected.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't reply.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't text.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't unblock.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I forwarded the message to Michelle with a simple note, heads up, just in case.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I walked away from my phone and went to bed with the window open.
[SPEAKER_00]: The city noise humming like freedom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that email?
[SPEAKER_00]: That was the real goodbye.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I wasn't going to be the one who left the door cracked open this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't respond to the email.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't unblock her.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even listen to the voicemail again.
[SPEAKER_00]: But she didn't stop.
[SPEAKER_00]: Three days later, I got a ping from an unknown Instagram account.
[SPEAKER_00]: The name was gibberish, but the profile picture was unmistakably hers.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of those filtered, soft-light selfies she used to take when things in her life were falling apart.
[SPEAKER_00]: But she still needed to feel adored.
[SPEAKER_00]: The message just said, check my story.
[SPEAKER_00]: I finally told the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Against my better judgment, I did.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a video.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dim lighting her face half in shadow.
[SPEAKER_00]: The sound of traffic outside her window.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her voice raw and tearful.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been afraid to say this, but I'm done protecting people who hurt me.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you give everything to someone, your heart, your home, your years, and they still leave you when you're not perfect.
[SPEAKER_00]: That breaks something.
[SPEAKER_00]: She paused.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people only want the pretty version of you.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't want your darkness.
[SPEAKER_00]: They say they loved you, but really, they loved how you made them feel.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next slide was just white text on black.
[SPEAKER_00]: I should have left sooner, but I thought love meant staying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even when it hurt, the final slide, a blurry photo of a handprint on a wall.
[SPEAKER_00]: Faint, red tingeed, no context, no explanation, just the illusion of violence implied, inferred, timed perfectly to feed the narrative.
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt my chest tightened, because even though she didn't name names, she didn't have to.
[SPEAKER_00]: The comments poured in, you're so brave, who did this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Say the name.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is heartbreaking.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope he rods.
[SPEAKER_00]: Protect women.
[SPEAKER_00]: Always.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, a comment from her cousin.
[SPEAKER_00]: A new mark was never as perfect as he pretended to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: I froze.
[SPEAKER_00]: The implication was obvious.
[SPEAKER_00]: She wasn't accusing Ryan.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was pointing fingers at me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I called Laura.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you see her story?
[SPEAKER_00]: Laura's voice was tight.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's implying I hurt her.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I'm done staying silent.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ten minutes later, she texted me screenshots.
[SPEAKER_00]: Messages from Alice to Laura dated weeks ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: In them, Alice confessed she'd been thinking about spinning the story to get sympathy.
[SPEAKER_00]: to reclaim control of the narrative.
[SPEAKER_00]: One line in particular stood out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone already assumes Ryan's toxic.
[SPEAKER_00]: It won't make an impact.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if I hint that Mark abandoned me, or wasn't who people thought he was, it'll get attention.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another, I don't need to say he hit me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just need to let people wonder, that's all it takes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at my screen and disbelief.
[SPEAKER_00]: My stomach turned.
[SPEAKER_00]: This wasn't just manipulation anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was character assassination.
[SPEAKER_00]: I messaged Laura.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you post these?
[SPEAKER_00]: Her response was instant.
[SPEAKER_00]: Already did.
[SPEAKER_00]: I opened Instagram again.
[SPEAKER_00]: On her story, a carousel of screenshots with the caption, receipts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I won't let someone I care about get destroyed to save someone else's ego.
[SPEAKER_00]: The reaction was immediate.
[SPEAKER_00]: People started messaging me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mutuals, friends.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even people I hadn't talked to since the wedding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some apologized.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some admitted they were confused.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some asked if I was okay, but I didn't respond to any of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that night I got another voicemail.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice again, sobbing, gasping, unraveling.
[SPEAKER_00]: You told Laura, you gave her those messages?
[SPEAKER_00]: I trusted you.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't know it was Laura who exposed her.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought you loved me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought we had something real again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you even care what this is doing to me?
[SPEAKER_00]: You think you're so perfect?
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's going to know the truth now.
[SPEAKER_00]: She ended with a whisper.
[SPEAKER_00]: You ruined me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to ruin you back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next day she deleted all her stories.
[SPEAKER_00]: Blocked Laura.
[SPEAKER_00]: Blocked me again.
[SPEAKER_00]: but not before posting one final message to her grid.
[SPEAKER_00]: A long caption about toxic people, gaslighting, and rebuilding from betrayal.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was vague enough to avoid legal problems, but pointed enough for everyone to know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Except this time, the comments were mixed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some still defended her.
[SPEAKER_00]: But others?
[SPEAKER_00]: weren't you just saying something different last week?
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't Laura post receipts?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, but this feels manipulative now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the one that broke through the noise.
[SPEAKER_00]: When someone burns all their bridges, they can't act surprised when no one comes to save them.
[SPEAKER_00]: That comment had over seven hundred likes before she turned them off.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had an expected backlash.
[SPEAKER_00]: She hadn't expected accountability.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's when I realized she didn't want me.
[SPEAKER_00]: She wanted control.
[SPEAKER_00]: Control of the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: Control of the narrative.
[SPEAKER_00]: Control of the past.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now that she didn't have it, she was spiraling.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I didn't feel triumphant.
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt sad.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not for her, but for the version of me that once would have dropped everything to rush to her side.
[SPEAKER_00]: That version was gone now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for the first time, I didn't miss him.
[SPEAKER_00]: It started with a knock at my office door.
[SPEAKER_00]: A soft, hesitant knock.
[SPEAKER_00]: The kind that doesn't come from a courier or a colleague, but from someone hoping they won't be turned away.
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked up.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there she was.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make up free, hair pulled back in a loose bun, wearing a simple coat over clothes that looked slept in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her eyes were bloodshot.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked small.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I come in?
[SPEAKER_00]: She asked softly.
[SPEAKER_00]: I paused.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then nodded.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stepped inside like a ghost drifting through a familiar place.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't sit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just stood in front of my desk and stared at me like she hadn't already tried to destroy my name in front of hundreds of people.
[SPEAKER_00]: You blocked me.
[SPEAKER_00]: She whispered, I did.
[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't answer my emails.
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: She swallowed hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then why let me in now?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I needed to say it to your face.
[SPEAKER_00]: Say what?
[SPEAKER_00]: That it's over.
[SPEAKER_00]: Completely.
[SPEAKER_00]: No more late night messages.
[SPEAKER_00]: No more crying voicemails.
[SPEAKER_00]: No more cryptic Instagram stories.
[SPEAKER_00]: She blinked.
[SPEAKER_00]: You think I'm doing this for attention?
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stepped closer.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not lying.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not manipulating you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just her voice crack.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just broken.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not your glue.
[SPEAKER_00]: She flinched.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not here to fix you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I added.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did that for years, Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: I gave you everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: My time.
[SPEAKER_00]: My piece.
[SPEAKER_00]: My name.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you had all of that, you still looked for more.
[SPEAKER_00]: She shook her head.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was stupid.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought there was something better out there, but there wasn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said quietly.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just wasn't you.
[SPEAKER_00]: That shattered her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She sat down abruptly like her legs couldn't hold her anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her voice dropped to a whisper.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then why did you come to the gallery?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why meet me at the cafe?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why even reply to that first message because I needed closure?
[SPEAKER_00]: Not for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, she covered her face with her hands.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't believe you're really saying this.
[SPEAKER_00]: She whispered, not you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not after everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stayed silent.
[SPEAKER_00]: She looked up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her eyes burned.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just walking away after all the years.
[SPEAKER_00]: After everything we were, we were broken long before we divorced.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there were good moments she pleaded.
[SPEAKER_00]: You loved me once.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then her voice turned sharp.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there someone else?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, then what's the rush to burn this bridge?
[SPEAKER_00]: There is no bridge, I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: You burned it three years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: She shook her head.
[SPEAKER_00]: You think you're better than me now.
[SPEAKER_00]: You think you're healed.
[SPEAKER_00]: But people don't just stop loving like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't stop overnight, I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: It took every day since you left for me to slowly stop waiting for you to come back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now that you are, I realize I don't want you anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tears rolled down her cheeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't wipe them, say something.
[SPEAKER_00]: She whispered, anything that gives me a reason to hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stood up, walked to the door, opened it.
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her mouth opened like she wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then she laughed.
[SPEAKER_00]: A sharp, broken laugh that turned every head in the office.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, she said bitterly.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're the perfect man now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cold, logical, emotionless.
[SPEAKER_00]: No wonder I left you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: She stood trembling.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I hope you enjoy being alone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because this, she gestured between us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Was the best thing that ever happened to you?
[SPEAKER_00]: And you threw it away.
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked her in the eye one last time.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I said, you did.
[SPEAKER_00]: And she snapped right there in the middle of my office.
[SPEAKER_00]: In front of clients, co-workers, strangers, you're a coward.
[SPEAKER_00]: She screamed, you always were.
[SPEAKER_00]: You never thought for me?
[SPEAKER_00]: You just watched me leave.
[SPEAKER_00]: Security came within minutes.
[SPEAKER_00]: They gently pulled her away as she kicked and sobbed and cursed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And me?
[SPEAKER_00]: I stood still.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I wasn't angry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't embarrassed.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't even surprised.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was free.
[SPEAKER_00]: The aftermath was messy for her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She posted one last rant online, claimed I humiliated her.
[SPEAKER_00]: That I weaponized silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: That I used emotional detachment as control.
[SPEAKER_00]: But no one believed her anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not after the screenshots.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not after the stories changed ten different times.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not after she lost her last real defenders.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, her account went dark.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I haven't heard from her since.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is people ask me why I didn't retaliate?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why I didn't post more proof?
[SPEAKER_00]: Or write my side of the story online?
[SPEAKER_00]: But the truth is, I didn't need to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because the final word wasn't mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was hers, the screaming, the tears, the begging, the accusations, all of it in public, all of it without me raising my voice once.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that in the end told everyone what they needed to know.
[SPEAKER_00]: After the last meltdown, she vanished.
[SPEAKER_00]: No posts, no stories, no messages from burner accounts.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like she evaporated, a ghost of a life I used to orbit around, and I didn't chase it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: What surprised me wasn't the silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was the stillness it left behind.
[SPEAKER_00]: For the first time in years I wasn't checking my phone and bracing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bracing for guilt bombs disguised as confessions.
[SPEAKER_00]: For I just wanted to say,
[SPEAKER_00]: texts.
[SPEAKER_00]: For vague threats framed as vulnerable honesty.
[SPEAKER_00]: The quiet was clean, unfamiliar, but I got used to it fast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I went to dinner with friends, real friends, and didn't talk about her once.
[SPEAKER_00]: I reconnected with my sister, Michelle.
[SPEAKER_00]: We laughed about childhood things.
[SPEAKER_00]: We didn't mention Alice.
[SPEAKER_00]: I walked into my apartment one night, looked at the space where she used to keep her shoes by the door, and I didn't flinch.
[SPEAKER_00]: I deleted our old shared drive.
[SPEAKER_00]: I threw out the last mug she bought on that trip to Seattle.
[SPEAKER_00]: I changed the lock, finally, not out of fear, but because it just felt like time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And one night while cleaning out a drawer, I found a folded paper, one of her old notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: From back when we were still newlyweds, it said,
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for making me feel like I'm enough, even when I know I'm not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at it for a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I burned it in the sink.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, people kept asking what happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did she really accuse you of what she always liked that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you think she'll try to come back again?
[SPEAKER_00]: I always gave the same answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter anymore because it didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: The truth was this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice had been two people.
[SPEAKER_00]: The woman I married and the woman I divorced.
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem was, I never realized the second one had always been hiding behind the first.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when she finally took off the mask, it was too late to pretend otherwise.
[SPEAKER_00]: The damage had already been done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not just to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: To me, to the version of myself, I had to kill to survive loving her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, some nights, I still wake up with her voice in my head.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not yelling.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not crying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just whispering.
[SPEAKER_00]: Little things she used to say to keep me on edge.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd be nothing without me.
[SPEAKER_00]: No one will ever love you like I do.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you ever leave me, I'll make sure everyone knows what kind of man you really are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the worst one.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll come back?
[SPEAKER_00]: You always come back.
[SPEAKER_00]: That one used to scare me the most, because for a long time, it was true until it wasn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Until I finally said no.
[SPEAKER_00]: People romanticize second chances.
[SPEAKER_00]: They talk about forgiveness like it's a cure, but some people use second chances like knives.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't want healing.
[SPEAKER_00]: They want access.
[SPEAKER_00]: Control.
[SPEAKER_00]: Proof that you'll keep tolerating what they refuse to fix.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the moment you stop, the moment you choose you over them,
[SPEAKER_00]: They'll call you the villain.
[SPEAKER_00]: They'll twist the narrative.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make you feel like the abuser for protecting yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's what I've learned.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't owe anyone access to the version of you they broke, especially not the ones who blamed you for bleeding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alice taught me that.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the most brutal, beautiful way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mean ours.
[SPEAKER_00]: So why am I writing this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Not for sympathy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not even for validation.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm writing this because maybe someone out there needs to hear that saying no, doesn't make you heartless.
[SPEAKER_00]: That choosing piece over chaos doesn't make you weak.
[SPEAKER_00]: That love without boundaries isn't love.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's survival and eventually.
[SPEAKER_00]: That survival becomes suffocation until you claw your way out and finally breathe again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Free.
[SPEAKER_00]: Clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whole.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not telling this story to ruin her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She did that on her own.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm telling this story so I can finally stop telling it to myself every night before I fall asleep.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because this is how it ends.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not with a scream.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not with a voicemail.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not with one last please.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just a closed door.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the knowledge that I'll never open it again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not even if she's on the other side crying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not even if she says all the right words.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is the one thing she never expected.
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: A full year passed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Quietly.
[SPEAKER_00]: No phone calls.
[SPEAKER_00]: No emails.
[SPEAKER_00]: No new accounts trying to bump into me online.
[SPEAKER_00]: I lived.
[SPEAKER_00]: Really lived.
[SPEAKER_00]: I went back to school part-time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Changed careers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moved cities.
[SPEAKER_00]: Started traveling again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Relearned what my own laughter sounded like without the dull weight of guilt clinging to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was peace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not the kind you celebrate with fireworks.
[SPEAKER_00]: the kind you sit in, like still water.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, on the anniversary of our divorce, exactly to the day, I got the message.
[SPEAKER_00]: One year to the hour, from a new number, no context, no greeting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just one sentence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would it have been different if I had stayed?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's all it said.
[SPEAKER_00]: Twelve words.
[SPEAKER_00]: I read it once.
[SPEAKER_00]: And waited.
[SPEAKER_00]: waited for my chest to tighten.
[SPEAKER_00]: For my hands to shake.
[SPEAKER_00]: For my brain to start building answers.
[SPEAKER_00]: But nothing came.
[SPEAKER_00]: No anger.
[SPEAKER_00]: No sadness.
[SPEAKER_00]: No urge to explain or comfort or correct the story she had built in her head.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just a quiet unshakable truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't care anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was a ghost.
[SPEAKER_00]: And ghosts don't get answers.
[SPEAKER_00]: I deleted the message.
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't reply.
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't block.
[SPEAKER_00]: Didn't save the number.
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't deserve that much energy.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what freedom looked like I realized.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not slamming doors.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not loud revenge.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not proving who is right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just peace.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the power to walk away again and again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And never once look back.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the part people don't talk about.
[SPEAKER_00]: They say healing is loud.
[SPEAKER_00]: That it's angry and bold and triumphant.
[SPEAKER_00]: But mine was quiet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mine was made of boring mornings, slow breakfasts, books finished in silence, friends who didn't know her name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mine was in the way I smiled at strangers without wondering if she'd twisted into a betrayal.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the way I started sleeping with both arms above the covers again.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was in the way I didn't flinch when her name came up in conversations.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't dodge it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't chase it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just
[SPEAKER_00]: Let it pass, like wind, like nothing, like her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was a chapter, not the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even though she tried to rewrite herself into the ending, I took back the pen and wrote this instead.
[SPEAKER_00]: To anyone reading this, you don't owe your ex closure if all they ever did was twisted into leverage.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't owe kindness to people who only understand it as weakness.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you definitely don't owe your piece to someone who mistook it for passivity.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't write this to shame her.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wrote this to remind myself, and maybe someone else.
[SPEAKER_00]: That survival isn't always dramatic.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it looks like not responding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it sounds like nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it feels like finally sleeping through the night.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're lucky, one day you'll get a message like hers.
[SPEAKER_00]: would it have been different if I had stayed and you'll smile to yourself, not because it hurts, but because it doesn't anymore.