Her name was Eleanor, and she had once been his colleague. A few hours before the celebratory dinner, her husband called and said, “We need to talk.”
Emily stood in the kitchen of her flat in Manchester, carefully arranging the napkins on the table, adorned for the special meal. Today was hers and Richard’s tenth wedding anniversary, and she had wanted everything perfect—the candles, his favourite wine, the scent of roasted salmon filling the house. But just before the guests were to arrive, her phone rang. His name flashed on the screen. “Em, we need to talk,” he said, his voice distant, unfamiliar, and in that moment, her chest tightened with dread. She didn’t know yet that this call would upend her life, but she already felt everything she had built crumbling away.
Richard had been her rock, her love, the man with whom she had shared dreams and hardships. They’d met at university, married young, raised their daughter, Sophie, together. Emily had trusted him completely—even when he stayed late at work or travelled for business. She’d been proud of his success—he’d become a department head at a prestigious firm, his charm opening doors effortlessly. But now, standing with the phone in hand, she remembered the little things she’d ignored: his distant gaze, short replies, odd calls he’d dismiss. The name “Eleanor” surfaced in her mind like a shadow she’d tried not to see.
Eleanor had been his colleague two years prior. Emily had seen her at office gatherings—tall, with a confident smile and a gaze that lingered on Richard a second too long. She’d brushed off the sting of jealousy—”Just a colleague, nothing serious.” Richard had told her Eleanor had resigned and moved to another city. But now, listening to his heavy breathing on the line, Emily understood: Eleanor had never really left. “I never meant for this to happen, Em,” he began, each word striking like a blow. He confessed he’d been seeing Eleanor secretly for a year, that she’d returned to Manchester, that he’d “lost his way.” Emily was silent, feeling the floor sway beneath her.
She didn’t recall hanging up. Didn’t recall turning off the oven, blowing out the candles she’d lit with hope that morning. Her thoughts spiralled: “How could he? Ten years, Sophie, our home—all for her?” She sat on the sofa, clutching their wedding photo, trying to pinpoint when her life had become a lie. She remembered Richard embracing her just last week, promising Sophie a trip to the Lake District. And all that time, he’d been with someone else. The betrayal seared her, but worse was the thought—she hadn’t noticed, because she’d trusted him. She’d loved him so much she’d gone blind.
When Richard returned that evening, Emily met him in silence. The guests never arrived—she’d cancelled, unable to pretend. He looked guilty but unbroken. “I never meant to hurt you, Em. But with Eleanor… it’s different,” he said, and those words finished her. She didn’t shout, didn’t cry—just stared at him like a stranger. “Go,” she finally breathed, her voice steadier than she expected. Richard nodded, grabbed his bag, and left her in the empty flat where the air still smelled of a celebration that never happened.
A month passed. Emily tried to live for Sophie, who still didn’t know the full truth. She smiled, made her breakfast, but wept at night, asking herself the same question: “Why wasn’t I enough?” Friends offered support, but their words couldn’t heal the wound. She learned Richard and Eleanor were living together now, and the news felt like another blow. Yet deep down, she sensed something new stirring—strength. She hadn’t broken. She’d cancelled that dinner, but not her life.
Now, Emily faces the future with quiet hope. She’s enrolled in design courses she once dreamt of, spends more time with Sophie, has learned her own worth. Richard calls, asks forgiveness, but she isn’t ready to listen. Eleanor, whose name was once just a shadow, holds no power over her now. Emily knows her life isn’t him, isn’t their marriage—it’s herself. And that anniversary, meant to be a celebration, became the start of her own story. One where she’ll no longer live for empty promises.
