Paul asked me for one thing: to focus on my family.
When I met Paul, I had a bright future ahead of me. I was ambitious, talented, I got a well-paid job in a company I had dreamed about for years. I knew I could achieve anything.
But then Paul asked me for one thing: to focus on my family.
“Someone has to take care of the house– he said, hugging me tenderly. “I don't want us to live like strangers, each in our own world, only meeting in the evening for dinner.”
I loved him. I wanted to be a good wife. I gave up my career to support his ambitions. While he was developing the company, I took care of the house, raised the children, was his quiet background, his support.
For years I told myself that I had done the right thing. That we were happy, that our lives had meaning.
And then I found out that he had someone else.
It started with small changes. Later and later returns from work. Cooler glances. Short, broken conversations. “I'm tired”, “I don't have time now”, “Deal with it yourself.”
I didn't want to believe that something was wrong. But one night, when he was in the bathroom, I saw a message on his phone.
“I love you. I can't wait for us to be together.”
My heart stopped. My hands started shaking. It was true.
When he came back into the room, I stared at him, trying to find the strength to say it out loud.
„Paul, who is she?”
He froze. He wasn't trying to lie. He didn’t try to deny it.
„Anka, I thought you’d guessed it a long time ago.”
You guessed it?
I felt like someone had hit me.
„So that’s why you’ve been so different lately?– I asked, trying not to burst into tears on the spot.
He sighed, as if the whole situation was wearing him down. “Anka, I've changed. We've changed. I don't want this life anymore. I don't want to feel like I'm in a cage.”
The cage.
It was his thanks for my years of sacrifice. For giving up my own dreams so he could fulfill his.
“What now?” – I asked quietly, although I already knew the answer.
“I'm leaving– he said without emotion. „I'll move in with her.”
With her. With the young, attractive woman for whom he left me and the life we built together.
I didn't sleep that night. For years I had been his pillar of strength. And now I was left with nothing.
Now when I look at myself in the mirror, I see a woman who gave everything and in return was betrayed and abandoned. Was it worth it?
I don't know.
But I know one thing – I will never sacrifice myself for someone who couldn't appreciate me.
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