Love's Final Embrace

I almost lost my balance and had to steady myself against the bedroom door.

Mike Perez patted Daniel Smith on the shoulder, teasing him, "Come on. It's been three years, and Isabella is married. You still can't get over her?"

Daniel took a drag of his cigarette and bowed his head, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"I've only ever loved Isabella," he said. "In fact, she's getting a divorce soon. I'll get to see her more often."

"What are you saying, man?" Mike gasped. "Are you planning to divorce Jessica and marry Isabella?"

Daniel didn't reply immediately. Instead, he looked out the window.

After a while, he finally said, "No, I'll spend my life making up for the pain I caused Jessica."

I couldn't hold back my tears any longer.

But when Daniel turned around, I quickly wiped my tears and forced a smile.

He glanced at Mike nervously and came up to me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, cupping my face. "Your eyes are so red. Did you get something in them while showering?"

I nodded, still reeling from the shock. "Yeah."

Mike walked over and patted him on the back, giving him a playful look. "Alright, I'll leave you guys alone."

Once Mike was gone, Daniel scooped me up and carried me to the bed.

A gentle kiss landed on my lips, but what used to make me melt now only filled me with pain.

As he tried to undress me, I pushed him away. "Why don't you go take a shower first?"

He smiled indulgently and scratched my nose with his finger. "You like it clean as always. Alright. I'll be back in a minute."

I forced a smile. "Okay."

He went to the bathroom, but his phone rang on the bed.

I had never checked his phone before, but this time, I couldn't help myself.

I remembered Isabella's birthday and entered the numbers. Sure enough, the phone was unlocked.

My heart raced as I opened Facebook and saw messages from his other account to "Bella".

Bella: [Daniel, I'm divorced now. I'll come see you tomorrow. Pick me up at 9 AM.]

I marked the message as unread, but I couldn't resist checking out his posts.

Almost everything was about Isabella. It almost felt like a diary.

[Bella wore the dress I bought her today. She looked so beautiful. I miss her so much.]

[Bella got mad at me today over something I said. I had to write a love letter to cheer her up.]

[Bella never forgets me. She sent me flowers today. I'm totally smitten.]

...

As I read them, I felt a lump in my throat.

Daniel had never written any love letters to me. He always said, "I hate typing. It's all meaningless. Why do you care about that?"

I had thought it was just his personality, but now I realized that I was just not worth the effort.

I put the phone back and lay down, staring at the ceiling.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I suppressed the bitterness and called my best friend, Sarah Garcia.

"I'm coming to your studio in three days. Train me to paint," I said, giving myself three days to handle the divorce.

Daniel came out of the shower.

I ended the call and pretended to be asleep, not wanting his affection.

He checked if I was really asleep before sending a voice message to Isabella.

[I'm so happy. I can finally see you tomorrow. I'll be there on time.]

[I bought the necklace you love. It's your welcome gift.]

The day he had gone to buy the necklace was our wedding anniversary. For Isabella, he had left me behind.

I shut my eyes tightly, pushing my annoyance into the corner of my mind.

Daniel, on the other hand, was too excited to sleep and kept messaging Isabella.