After ten years of marriage, she left him for someone else. A year later she returned, pregnant and shattered
I first met Aurélie almost twelve years ago. Back then I was still studying at the engineering school in Lyon and living in a student residence. Aurélie had just arrived from a tiny Breton village, lost, alone, a stranger in that noisy world. We didnt click right away; at first I barely even noticed her, she was too quiet, always tucked away with her books and speaking little.
Time changed that. After a few months we started talking, shyly at first, then every evening without being able to stop. She confided her doubts to me, I shared my future hopes. Soon the residence manager assigned us a couples room, trusting that we were serious. Thats how our life together began.
I always knew what I wanted to be: a solid man, a pillar, able not only to build walls but to fill them with the warmth of a home. I told her plainly, You wont work. A womans place is taking care of the house and the children. If a man cant provide for his family, he isnt a man. She didnt argue. She cooked, cleaned, waited for me each night. We were a real family.
Over the years I climbed the ladder. I joined a construction firm, rose to site manager, then started my own company. We bought a house in the suburbs, two carsone for me, one for her. We lived the dream we had imagined. The only thing missing was children. Years passed and the house stayed quiet. We consulted dozens of doctors, spent thousands of euros, endured endless tests nothing helped. I hid my pain; she stayed silent, her eyes hollow. Eventually we gave up. If fate denied us that, it simply wasnt our time.
Then everything collapsed, without warning, without any chance to understand.
I got home early that day to avoid traffic. In the driveway there was no car, the gate stood wide open. Strange. I waited. The evening stretched on, endless. Then a text from an unknown number arrived:
Forgive me. I cant keep living a lie. Theres someone else. Hes going home, and Im leaving with him. I betrayed you, but maybe someday youll understand
The world fell away beneath me. I sat on the floor of the house I had built for two, now feeling like the only one. Only Théo, my best friend and business partner, pulled me out of that darkness. He stopped me from drowning in alcohol or giving up everything.
Time moved on. I learned to breathe again. I saw Aurélies pictures onlinestanding before mountains. She was living somewhere in the Alps. I couldnt erase her from my thoughts. Everything around me seemed to speak of her. I prayed for her return, and the universe listened.
Exactly a year later, to the day, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and nearly collapsed. It was her, thin, devastated, her clothes dirty and torn. And that bellyhuge. She was at the end of her pregnancy.
Aurélie fell to her knees, sobbing, begging for my forgiveness. Her lover had thrown her out. She had cheated on him in turn, and he had left her on the street. She had nothing left: no money, no roof, no hope. Except me.
You can judge me, call me weak, say I should have slammed the door in her face. But you know what? I couldnt. Because, despite everything, I still loved her. Because even through the pain I wanted her back by my side. Because I understood one thing: everyone deserves a chance to make a mistake. If I didnt forgive her, I would have lost myself.
Years have passed. We now have a sonthe one I once thought I would never have. I love him as if he were my blood, because he is: by my choice, by my love. I still love Aurélie, even though the scar in my heart will never fade.
I never blamed her. I never brought up the past. Because true love means choosing to stay, despite everything.
