I kept that strand for a month. Tucked it between the pages of my journal. Never asked. Never threw it away.
The first real confrontation came in December.
He was in the shower that night when his phone buzzed again. Almost without thinking, I picked it up. The passcode hadn't changed. Still our anniversary.
I opened his messages. Pinned at the top was a contact named "Juliana."
The last message was from her: Thanks for keeping me company today! Next time dinner's on me~
I scrolled up. The history was all there. He'd bought her bubble tea, taken her to the hospital, driven her home late at night.
She'd written: I'm scared of being alone.
He'd written: I'm here.
No explicit words. No inappropriate photos.
But every single message carved into my chest like a blade.
He came out of the shower and saw me holding his phone. The color drained from his face.
"Lydia, let me explain—"
"Explain what?" My voice was steady. So steady it surprised even me. "Explain how you've been playing boyfriend to another woman?"
"She just went through a breakup. She's emotionally fragile. I was just looking out for her—"
"She goes through a breakup, and you're her shoulder to cry on. I'm burning up with a fever, and where are you?"
He froze.
"That night, I had a hundred-and-two-degree fever. You were with her until one in the morning."
His mouth opened. Nothing came out.
I tossed the phone onto the bed, walked into the guest room, and locked the door.
He didn't sleep that night. He stood outside the door, knocking every few minutes. I didn't open it.
The next morning, when I finally unlocked the door, he was still there. Red-eyed, standing in the same spot. "I was wrong. I was really wrong. I've cut her off. Deleted her from my phone. I'll never contact her again. Please forgive me this once."
I looked at him and thought of the boy who'd chased me for a year. The way his voice had trembled so badly during the proposal he could barely get the words out.
"One last chance," I said.
I forgave him because of those five years.
Not because he deserved it. Because I couldn't bear to let go.
But once a heart cracks, no amount of mending can make it whole again.
I started tracking the times he left the house. Counting the nights he claimed to work late. Watching his face whenever he checked his phone. I nodded at everything he said, but the thorn lodged in my chest only drove itself deeper.