One image, one message—they hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. A dull ache radiated from my heart, threatening to engulf my entire being.
Dizziness overwhelmed me, and I collapsed onto the couch.
When faced with undeniable evidence, the heart still struggles to accept it.
I felt suddenly adrift.
Since childhood, I'd believed the world was largely devoid of love.
I always wore tattered hand-me-downs and ate leftovers.
At home, I studied tirelessly and did chores from dawn to dusk, desperate for my father's attention.
But he never spared me a glance, and my efforts only earned me beatings from my stepmother for perceived shortcomings.
Ten years ago, I stood on a bridge, exhausted in body and spirit, ready to bid this world farewell.
It was York who grabbed my hand and wrapped a red and white checkered scarf around me, pulling me back from the brink.
I'd never forget his gentle voice saying, "The river's too cold in winter. You won’t like it."
When York appeared in the dark abyss of my life, he was like a beacon of light. From that moment, everything seemed to change.
He told me that what I needed to do wasn’t to leave this world but simply to leave that house.
He reassured me that love wasn't missing from the world; it was just that my family didn’t have the capacity to give it to me.
Five years ago, he became my true family.
At our wedding, he promised to give me all his love and asked if it was enough.
I cried and told him it was more than enough because I had received all the love in the world.
But can the human heart truly change?
York, who once has eyes only for me, when does he start sharing his love with another woman?
Is it his childhood sweetheart, Charlize Theron? Or perhaps his former flame, Anne Blanchett?
I'd never entertained such thoughts before, leaving me at a loss to suspect anyone beyond these two.
Swallowing my heartache, I opened the mystery woman's social media.
Her latest post, from noon today, was a leggy selfie—fair and slender. The perfect angle, with a red anklet adding a touch of allure.
The caption read: [Free tonight. Anyone up for drinks?]
York's like stood out in the comments.
My brow furrowed as I scrolled through her feed—a parade of sultry selfies with flirtatious captions.
Either we had no mutual friends, or York was her sole contact. His likes and comments were the only ones I could see.