t seeped into your bones and made the world feel gray and cold. I stared out at the blurred city lights, my hand

y showed a picture of him from a few months ago, handsome in his dress uniform, his smile easy and confident. Beside him sto

now him. Not

the girl he chose. He brought me gifts, took me on trips, and told me he would protect me forever. Our life was supposed t

or work, the calls he would take in another room. Then came the excuses. He had to help Chloe, she was going through a hard time.

, his voice low and reasonable.

o pick me up from a doctor's appointment because Chloe' s car broke down. Each time, he had a perfect explanation, his eyes

mping with a pain so intense it stole my breath. I had collapsed in th

mething's wrong. I

background, faint and tearful.

cold, sharp thing that twisted in my gut. "Scar, I... Chloe's having

ing in that sterile white room, alone with a grief that felt bottomless, he was comforting Chloe. He showed up hours later,

e where no one knew my name or my story. It felt like a lifeline. The rain outside finally started to slow, the a

bit the hero. He was talking about sacrifice and duty. Then he stepped away, and Chloe joined him on the stage. He wrapped an arm aro

shifting to one of mild annoyance. I knew it was me. I

ttle busy right now," she said,

s," I said, my own vo

't it? He's such a good man. He's been so worried about

ncerned friend, the supportive fiancée-in-waiting. But I saw the trut

ers from our wedding. All the little pieces of our life together. I picked up a photo of us on our honeymoon, both of us smiling, so young and full of hope. It felt li