Chapter 2: Goodbye He Deserved

Varany ignored message after message until she finally turned off her phone. She cried herself to sleep, and when she woke, her phone was filled with missed calls and messages from her mother, Daisy, and Bradly. She read them all but answered none.

Instead, she left the condo without a plan and wandered through the mall, trying to distract herself. Eventually, she ended up by the sea, where she sat watching the waves and wondering how her life had fallen apart.

By sunset, Varany returned home and stopped at a convenience store for the strongest beer she could find. She did not usually drink, but she wanted to quiet her thoughts.

Back in her condo, she turned on SpongeBob SquarePants and drank on the couch. The television played in the background as she went through one bottle after another, but even the alcohol could not erase the pain. It only made everything feel more distant.

She was halfway through another bottle when someone knocked.

Varany froze.

Another knock came. She set the bottle down, walked to the door, and opened it.

Bradly stood outside, his hair messy, clothes wrinkled, and the smell of alcohol strong on his breath.

Before Varany could say anything, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She stumbled backward, and they both fell. When she opened her eyes, Bradly was beneath her, one arm around her waist and the other protecting her head from the impact.

“Bradly?” Varany asked, alarmed.

He did not answer. His eyes remained closed, and he seemed too drunk or exhausted to move.

Despite everything, Varany could not leave him on the floor. She dragged him inside and helped him to the bedroom, then cleaned his face and changed him into something more comfortable.

As she unbuttoned his shirt, she noticed a fresh red mark on his skin.

It was not hers.

The pain returned instantly, but Varany forced herself to finish caring for him. She wiped his face, covered him with a blanket, and folded his clothes beside the bed as she always had.

Only then did she realize how little had changed.

Varany left Bradly in the bedroom and returned to the living room, where she picked up her beer and drank until she eventually fell asleep on the sofa.

When she woke, she felt as if she were floating. Someone was carrying her, and the familiar scent of Bradly's cologne reached her before she could open her eyes.

Later, she woke to his hand brushing the hair from her face.

“Bradly…”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Why don't you want me?” His voice was rough. “If you never wanted me, why did you marry me? You could have said no, and maybe neither of us would have ended up like this.”

Varany stared at him.

“Do you know how much I love you?” Bradly continued. “I tried everything I knew how to do, and somehow, I still failed.”

He loved her?

After everything he had done, she could not understand it. Yet she buried her face against his chest and cried as his arms tightened around her.

“I know I've hurt you,” Bradly said quietly. “I don't want to be selfish anymore. I love you, and I can't keep pretending otherwise.”

Varany pulled back. “But I can't forget what happened.”

Bradly looked away. “That house means something to me. What we had there mattered.”

Varany knew what he meant. Not the other women, but the night they had buried beneath years of silence.

She closed her eyes. “I'm so tired, Bradly. Tired of hoping and waiting for things to change.”

Then she finally said what she had been unable to say for years.

“Let's end this.”

Bradly went completely still.

Varany forced herself to continue. “Let's file for an annulment. I want out. If this is all our marriage is, I can't do it anymore.”

She wiped her tears and sat up, but her hands were still shaking. Bradly stared at her as if he had never imagined she would be the one to leave.

Varany reached for his hand. “All I ever wanted was for you to choose me. I would have stayed through anything, Bradly, but you never gave me a reason to believe you wanted me to.”

She lowered her head, still holding his hand. For the first time since their marriage began, she was ready to let him go.

But before she could pull away, Bradly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him.

Neither of them spoke. For once, there were no arguments or accusations, only two exhausted people holding on to what remained of their marriage.

That night, they made a choice neither could take back.

By three-thirty in the morning, Varany lay awake beside him, listening to his steady breathing. His arm rested around her waist, and for a moment, she smiled. Then she quietly slipped out of bed.

She dressed, picked up her bag, and added the things she had prepared days earlier: her bankbook and important documents. No one knew she had already withdrawn from school, transferred everything, and made arrangements to leave.

She would continue her studies and move forward, but this time, she would do it alone.

Varany looked back at Bradly, still asleep, and quietly walked away before she could change her mind.

A taxi took her back to their house. Inside the bedroom, she quickly packed the rest of her things, taking only what she had brought when she became Bradly's wife. She left behind the jewelry, credit cards, expensive gifts, and everything else that belonged to the life she was giving up.

She told herself it was better for both of them. Bradly had never truly chosen her, and she could not spend the rest of her life begging for a place in his heart.

Before leaving, Varany placed the house key and wedding ring on the table beside their wedding picture. She stared at the photograph for a moment before turning it face down.

Six months. That was all it had taken for everything she had hoped for to fall apart.

She picked up her suitcase and walked out.

Outside, Varany forced herself to keep moving. If she stopped or looked back, she knew she might return to the same marriage and the same impossible hope.

Yet even after everything Bradly had done, part of her still wanted him to come after her.

Her grip tightened around the suitcase handle.

Leaving Bradly was the hardest thing she had ever done.

But somehow, she knew the real goodbye had not happened yet.