Chapter 1

What makes you suddenly stop loving someone?

For me, it was logging into my wife’s old, forgotten Reddit account and seeing her ask a question.

“What’s it like to be married for years to a man you don’t love?”

She answered it herself.

“I don’t love my husband at all.”

“I’ve had his children, and he keeps our home running perfectly, but my heart has always belonged to my best friend.”

“He doesn’t love me back, but he’s all I can think about.”

“I know it’s not fair to my husband,” she wrote.

“But I can’t help it.”

Someone in the comments asked her if she was afraid he’d find out and divorce her.

Her answer was firm.

“He’d never leave me.”

“Not in a million years.”

“The only way this ends is if I’m the one who walks away.”

Yeah, right.

The next day, I texted her a photo of the signed divorce papers.

Then I took our son, left our home, and never looked back.

...

Leo got a divorce, and suddenly Leah wasn’t coming home at night.

I knew they were close, so I gave them their space.

I didn’t want to get in the way.

Then, one day, while I was cleaning up, I found Leah’s old phone.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I tried to unlock it.

After a few failed attempts, something made me try Leo’s birthday.

It opened right up.

I tapped on her Reddit app and saw the profile picture was a candid shot of Leo.

It must have been from when they were teenagers.

He had that artfully messy hair, a cream-colored hoodie, and a profile that looked like it was carved from stone.

She had posted a question to a relationship forum.

“What’s it like to be married for years to a man you don’t love?”

She answered her own question in a long, rambling comment.

“It feels like your life is a stagnant pond, with no ripples, no anything.”

“I never loved my husband.”

“The man I truly loved got married, and on that day, it felt like my heart just died.”

“I figured if it couldn't be him, it didn't matter who I married.”

“My husband—my now-husband—was pursuing me at the time, so when he asked, I just said yes without a second thought.”

“He cried, he was so happy.”

“He paid for everything, we just went to the courthouse, no big wedding. He’s always felt guilty about that.”

“He doesn't know the truth is I just didn't want to have a wedding with a man I didn't love.”

“After our son was born, he basically handled everything.”

“He even quit his job to be a stay-at-home dad, just to make me feel secure.”

“He keeps the house in perfect order.”

“And I still don’t love him.”

My fingers clenched the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

I fought back the urge to cry and kept scrolling down.

A commenter had asked, “Aren’t you afraid your husband will find this and divorce you?”

Her reply was full of confidence.

“No way. He’ll never leave me. The only way we split up is if I get tired of him.”

I felt a chill run right through me, and my head started to spin.

After all these years, I was just numb.

It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

But my heart still felt like it was being squeezed, a dull, throbbing pain that made it hard to breathe.

Funny.

She really did know me.

She knew I’d never be the one to leave her.