Her name was Hannah, and she used to be his colleague. A few hours before the celebratory dinner, my husband called and said, We need to talk.
Emily stood in the kitchen of her flat in Manchester, carefully arranging napkins on the table shed set for the evening. It was her and Theos tenth wedding anniversary, and she wanted everything perfectthe candles, his favourite wine, the smell of roasted fish filling the house. But just before the guests were meant to arrive, her phone rang. His name flashed on the screen. Emily, we need to talk, he said, his voice cold and distant. Her chest tightened, as if she already knew. She didnt yet realise that call would shatter her life, but she felt iteverything theyd built crumbling in an instant.
Theo had been her rock, her great love, the one shed shared dreams and struggles with. Theyd met at university, married young, raised their daughter, Lily, together. Emily had trusted him completely, even when he worked late or travelled for business. She was proud of his successTheo had become a department head at a prestigious firm, his charm opening doors wherever he went. Yet, holding the phone, she remembered the signs shed ignored: his distant gaze, his clipped replies, those strange calls hed end abruptly. The name Hannah came back to her like a shadow shed refused to acknowledge.
Hannah had worked with him two years ago. Emily had met her at a company eventtall, confident, her gaze lingering on Theo a second too long. Back then, shed brushed off the twinge of jealousy. Just a colleague, nothing serious. Theo had even said Hannah had quit and moved to the countryside. But now, hearing his hesitant breath on the line, Emily understood: Hannah had never really left. I didnt want it to happen like this, Emily he began, each word like a blow. He confessed hed been seeing Hannah for a year, that shed returned to Manchester, that he was lost. Emily stayed silent, the ground vanishing beneath her.
She didnt remember hanging up. Or turning off the oven, putting away the candles shed lit with such hope that morning. Her thoughts spun: How could he? Ten years, Lily, our homeall for her? Sitting on the sofa, their wedding photo in her hands, she tried to pinpoint when her life became a lie. She thought of Theos embrace just last week, his promise to take Lily to the Lake District. All while he was with someone else. The betrayal burned, but worse was the realisation: she hadnt seen it because shed trusted him. Shed loved him so much shed gone blind.
When Theo came home, Emily met him in heavy silence. The guests never arrivedshed cancelled, unable to pretend. He looked guilty, but not broken. I never meant to hurt you, Emily. But with Hannah its different. Those words finished her. She didnt shout or cryshe just stared at him like a stranger. Go. Her voice was steadier than she expected. Theo nodded, grabbed his bag, and left her alone in a flat still scented with a celebration that never happened.
A month passed. Emily tried to live for Lily, who didnt know everything. She smiled for her daughter, made her breakfast, but spent nights sobbing, wondering, Why wasnt I enough? Friends offered support, but their words didnt heal. She learned Theo and Hannah were living together now, another wound. Yet deep down, something stirredstrength. She hadnt collapsed. Shed cancelled that dinner, but not her life.
Now, Emily faces the future with cautious hope. Shes enrolled in design classes, an old dream, spends more time with Lily, learns to love herself. Theo calls sometimes, apologising, but she isnt ready to listen. Hannah, once just a shadow, holds no power over her. Emily knows now: her life isnt his, or their marriage. Its hers. And that anniversary, meant to be a celebration, became the first chapter of a new storyone where she no longer lives for the promises of others.
Ive learned this much: never dim your light for someone who doesnt see it.
