Resolution to Expose
This couldn't continue. I sat before the vanity. The woman in the mirror was pale, bruised-eyed, hollow. I no longer recognized her—gutted by doubt, pain, and sleeplessness. Was she the decisive marketing director I once was? Living as a joke for a fragile marriage? No. I picked up my phone; fingers icy. Found Ethan's number, hovered over dial. Trembling. Emma slept soundly next door, breaths soft and even. I inhaled deeply, cold air filling my lungs, and pressed hard.
His Silence
The call connected. Background quiet, unlike the office. "Ethan," I started bluntly. "Emma says Sophia told her you live at Sophia's?" My voice rasped taut. Dead stillness. After agonizing seconds, his ragged breaths came. No denial. No shock. No fury. Only crushing, suffocating silence. That silence screamed the answer, shattering my last fragile hope.
"Speak!" My voice slashed cold air. "Admitting it? Ethan! Goddamn it, talk!" "...Lily," he croaked, sandpaper-rough. "It's not what you think... Sophia and I..." "Not what I think?" I cut in, words icy. "So what? Pure friendship bloomed into cohabitation? Tell me! What 'not that' makes your daughter think her dad moved in with another woman!" Silence again. Only stifled breathing. "Fine," I nodded to empty air. Tears surged unexpectedly, hot trails down chilled cheeks. "I understand." I hung up. Dial tone—beep, beep, beep—death knell ticking.
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This couldn't continue. I sat before the vanity. The woman in the mirror was pale, bruised-eyed, hollow. I no longer recognized her—gutted by doubt, pain, and sleeplessness. Was she the decisive marketing director I once was? Living as a joke for a fragile marriage? No. I picked up my phone; fingers icy. Found Ethan's number, hovered over dial. Trembling. Emma slept soundly next door, breaths soft and even. I inhaled deeply, cold air filling my lungs, and pressed hard.
His Silence
The call connected. Background quiet, unlike the office. "Ethan," I started bluntly. "Emma says Sophia told her you live at Sophia's?" My voice rasped taut. Dead stillness. After agonizing seconds, his ragged breaths came. No denial. No shock. No fury. Only crushing, suffocating silence. That silence screamed the answer, shattering my last fragile hope.
"Speak!" My voice slashed cold air. "Admitting it? Ethan! Goddamn it, talk!" "...Lily," he croaked, sandpaper-rough. "It's not what you think... Sophia and I..." "Not what I think?" I cut in, words icy. "So what? Pure friendship bloomed into cohabitation? Tell me! What 'not that' makes your daughter think her dad moved in with another woman!" Silence again. Only stifled breathing. "Fine," I nodded to empty air. Tears surged unexpectedly, hot trails down chilled cheeks. "I understand." I hung up. Dial tone—beep, beep, beep—death knell ticking.
NEXT >>
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