The heart has so many secrets

The kitchen was still when I walked in, wrapped in the kind of silence that feels almost heavy. No staff. No music. Only the hum of the refrigerator and the faint sounds of the city drifting through the window.

I turned on the tap and filled a glass of water. It was cold against my lips — clean, grounding, real.

Then a thought cut through the calm.

What if someone else takes my place?

Not me.

Another woman.

Someone who says yes to Julian.

Someone who wears his ring and believes his words.

Wouldn’t she live the same story I did? The slow unraveling, the nights spent wondering what changed, the quiet tears behind a closed door? The hospital bed, the signature on divorce papers, the moment she realizes the man who promised forever never meant it?

I set the glass down. My hands were steady, but my heart trembled. My thoughts weren’t on my own pain anymore — they were on hers. Whoever she might be.

That was when the truth surfaced.

I didn’t want to marry Julian.

And I didn’t want to be repl