C26 She knew He Was Hurting

For weeks she remained isolated. She rarely left her room.

Many nights were spent crying until she fell asleep. Other nights she simply stared at the ceiling, wondering how her life had changed so quickly.

The hardest part wasn’t her own suffering. It was Mike. Every time she thought about him, guilt consumed her.

She knew he was hurting. She knew he didn’t understand why she had disappeared. She knew he deserved answers. Yet she was too afraid to tell him the truth.

Part of her feared that he would hate her. Part of her feared that he would try to fight for her and only end up getting hurt himself. So she chose silence.

A choice that haunted her every single day. When she eventually learned that Mike had fallen into depression after their breakup, the guilt became even heavier.

That was why she had acted so coldly when they met again at Wood’s IT Company. Every cruel word she spoke had felt like a knife twisting inside her own heart.

She wanted him to walk away. She wanted him to forget her. She wanted him to build a life that no longer depended on her. But the truth was much simpler. She still loved him.