wasn’t a lie.

My love for you is real. Everything we’ve built together, it’s real. I swear to you, Angela, I never meant to deceive you.”

“Maybe not,” I said, my voice trembling as I fought to keep it together.

“But you did. You deceived me every day you looked me in the eye and didn’t tell me the truth. I trusted you, Bryan.

I trusted you with everything I had left after Jeff, and now… now I don’t even know who you are.”

The silence that followed was heavy and suffocating. Bryan’s shoulders slumped, his face a mask of sorrow and regret. I could see the pain in his eyes, but it didn’t change the fact that I felt like I’d been living in someone else’s story, a story I didn’t sign up for.

I turned away from him, the tears I’d been holding back finally spilling over.

“I need to pack,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.

I needed to move, to do something, anything, to keep from falling apart completely.

“Please, Angela, don’t go,” Bryan begged, but his voice sounded distant. It was as if it was coming from the other end of a tunnel. “We can work through this.

We can—”

“There’s nothing to work through,” I interrupted, choking on my own words. “I can’t stay in this marriage, Bryan. Not after this.

I can’t stay with someone I don’t even recognize anymore.”

I walked to the bedroom, each step feeling heavier than the last. My hands shook as I pulled out a suitcase, the sound of the zipper echoing in the room.

Bryan stood in the doorway, his face pale, watching me pack with a helplessness that almost broke me. Almost.

But the anger and betrayal were stronger, driving me forward and pushing me to leave behind everything we had built.

“Angela, please,” he said one last time, his voice so soft, so broken, it was almost a whisper.

But I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, I’d crumble, and I couldn’t afford that. Not now.

Not ever.

I zipped up the suitcase and lifted it from the bed. My heart pounded as I walked past him without a word. As I reached the front door, I hesitated, just for a moment.

Part of me wanted to turn back, to give him one last look, but I couldn’t.

I knew if I did, I might lose the strength I’d gathered to walk away.

So I stepped out the door, the cool evening air hitting my face like a slap. I didn’t look back as I walked to my car and climbed in, each step feeling like I was tearing my heart out.

But I kept going because there was no other choice. The man I loved, the man I thought I knew, was a stranger.

And I couldn’t live with that. Not anymore.

Source: amomama