Her name was Emily, she used to be his old coworker. A few hours before the celebratory dinner, my husband called and said, We need to talk.
Jessica stood in the kitchen of her flat in Manchester, carefully arranging napkins on the table shed set for the special meal. It was her and Toms tenth wedding anniversary, and she wanted everything just rightthe candles, his favorite wine, the smell of roast chicken filling the house. But just before the guests were meant to arrive, her phone rang. Toms name flashed on the screen. Jessica, we need to talk, he said, his voice cold and distant. Her chest tightened, like she already knew what was coming. She didnt realise then that this call would shatter everything, but she could feel it, the life shed built crumbling beneath her.
Tom had been her rock, her great love, the one she shared every dream and struggle with. Theyd met at uni, married young, raised their daughter, Lily, together. Jessica had trusted him completelyeven when he came home late or went on business trips. Shed been proud of his successTom had become a department head at a big firm, his charm opening doors everywhere. But now, phone in hand, she remembered the little things shed ignored: his distracted look, his short answers, those odd calls hed end abruptly. The name *Emily* came back to her, like a shadow shed refused to see.
Emily had worked with him two years ago. Jessica had met her at a company eventtall, confident, her gaze lingering on Tom just a little too long. Back then, shed shrugged off the twinge of jealousy. *Just a colleague, nothing serious.* Tom had even told her Emily had quit to move up north. But now, hearing the hesitation in his voice, Jessica understoodEmily had never really left. I didnt want it to happen like this, Jessica he began, every word hitting like a punch. He admitted hed been seeing Emily for a year, that shed moved back to Manchester, that he was lost. Jessica stayed silent, the ground falling away beneath her.
She didnt remember hanging up. Or turning off the oven, blowing out 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 figure out when her life had become a lie. She thought of Tom hugging her just last week, promising to take Lily to the Lake District. All while he was with someone else. The betrayal burned, but worse was the realisationshe hadnt seen it because shed trusted him too much. Shed loved him so blindly.
When Tom came home, Jessica met him with heavy silence. The guests never arrivedshed cancelled the dinner, unable to pretend. He looked guilty but not broken. I never meant to hurt you, Jessica. But with Emily its different. Those words finished her. She didnt scream, didnt cryjust stared at him like a stranger. Go. Her voice was steadier than she expected. Tom nodded, grabbed his bag, and left, the flat still smelling of a celebration that never happened.
A month passed. Jessica tried to keep things normal for Lily, who didnt know everything. She smiled for her daughter, made her breakfast, but spent nights sobbing, wondering, *Why wasnt I enough?* Her friends rallied around, but their words didnt heal anything. She heard Tom and Emily were living together now, another stab of pain. Yet, deep down, something new grewstrength. She hadnt fallen apart. Shed cancelled that dinner, but not her life.
Now, Jessica looks ahead, cautious but hopeful. Shes signed up for interior design classes, an old dream, spends more time with Lily, learns to love herself again. Tom calls sometimes, asks for forgiveness, but shes not ready to hear it. Emily, once just a shadow, has no hold over her anymore. Jessica knows nowher life isnt him, or their marriage. Its *her*. And that anniversary, meant to be a celebration, became the first page of a new story. One where she wont live for anyone elses promises.
I learned, through all this, never to dim your light for someone who doesnt see it.
