Her name was Aléna, a former colleague of his. A few hours before the celebratory dinner, her husband phoned and said, We need to talk.
She was called Élodie, also someone he had once worked with. Just before the party dinner, my husband called me and said, We need to talk.
Juliette stood in the kitchen of her Lyon apartment, carefully laying out the napkins on the table set for the occasion. It was the tenth wedding anniversary with Théo, and she wanted everything flawless: the candles, his favorite wine, the aroma of roasted fish filling the home. Yet, just hours before the guests were due, her phone rang. The caller ID showed her husbands name. Juliette, we need to talk, he whispered in a cold, distant tone. In that moment her heart tightened, as if sensing the inevitable. She didnt yet realize that this call would upend her life, but she already felt everything she had built over the years beginning to crumble.
Théo had been her rock, her great love, the man with whom she shared dreams and hardships. They had met at university, married young, and raised their daughter Sophie together. Juliette trusted him blindly, even when he came home late or traveled for work. She was proud of his achievementsThéo had become a department head at a major corporation, and his charisma opened every door. Still, with the phone pressed to her ear, she replayed the details she had overlooked: his distant stare, his curt answers, the strange calls he hung up on immediately. The name Élodie resurfaced in her mind like a shadow she had refused to acknowledge.
Élodie had worked with him two years earlier. Juliette had first seen her at a large seminarconfident smile, eyes lingering a little too long on Théo. At the time she dismissed the sting of jealousy: Just a colleague, nothing serious. Théo even told her that Élodie had quit to move to the provinces. But today, hearing his hesitant breath over the line, Juliette understood: Élodie had never truly left. I didnt want it to end this way, Juliette, he began, each word landing like a blow. He confessed that he had been seeing Élodie for a year, that she had returned to Lyon, and that he felt lost. Juliette remained silent, feeling the ground give way beneath her.
She didnt remember hanging up. Nor did she recall turning off the oven or putting away the candles she had lit with such hope that morning. Her thoughts spun: How could he? Ten years, Sophie, our home all for her? Sitting on the couch, clutching their wedding photo, she tried to grasp when her life had become a lie. She recalled Théos embrace the week before, his promise to take Sophie to the mountains. Meanwhile he was with another. The betrayal scorched her, but the worst part was the realization that she hadnt seen it because she believed in him. She had loved him so deeply she had become blind.
When Théo returned, Juliette greeted him with a heavy silence. The guests never arrivedshe had canceled the dinner, unable to keep up the charade. He looked guilty, but not shattered. I never wanted to hurt you, Juliette. But with Élodie its different. Those words finished her. She didnt scream, didnt cryshe stared at him as if he were a stranger. Leave, she said, her voice steadier than she expected. Théo nodded, grabbed his bag, and walked out, leaving her alone in an apartment still scented with the remnants of a party that never happened.
A month later, Juliette tried to live for Sophie, who remained unaware of the whole truth. She smiled at her daughter, prepared her breakfasts, yet spent nights sobbing, wondering, Why wasnt I enough? Friends offered support, but their words couldnt heal. She learned that Théo and Élodie were now living togethera fresh wound. Still, deep inside, something began to stira strength. She hadnt collapsed. She had called off the dinner, but not her life.
Now Juliette looks toward the future with cautious optimism. She enrolled in design courses, a longstanding dream, spends more time with Sophie, and is learning to love herself. Théo occasionally calls to apologize, but she isnt ready to listen. Élodie, once just a shadow, no longer holds any power over her. Juliette now knows that her life isnt defined by him or their marriage; it belongs to her. That anniversary, which was meant to be a celebration, became the opening chapter of a new storyone in which she no longer lives for anyone elses promises.
Ive learned from all this that you must never surrender your light for someone who cannot see it.
