The truth hit harder than any lie ever could.
“She made me promise,” he said. “That no one would ever replace her. That she would always come first.”
“And you agreed?” I asked.
“I was young. I didn’t know how to say no.”
“And now?”
He looked at me helplessly. “Now I don’t know how to break it.”
The room felt too small.
Too heavy.
“I can’t live like this, Ryan,” I said. “I can’t be second place in my own marriage.”
“You’re not—”
“I am,” I cut in. “Every time she calls, you leave. Every time she needs you, I disappear.”
He didn’t argue.
Because he couldn’t.
