Can't love a person into loving you

THEA

He startles. Claire flinches, her head snapping up, her lips still swollen from where he had been.

And in that moment, as Sebastian turns to face me, his eyes wide, his mouth parting in shock, I realize something.

This wasn’t a mistake.

It wasn’t a lapse in judgment, some drunken, heat-of-the-moment betrayal.

This was something familiar. Something that had been happening long before I caught them.

Claire scrambles away from him, wrapping the throw blanket around her half-dressed body. “Ma’am—”

I can’t hear her. I won’t hear her.

Sebastian stands, hands raised, face twisting into something that looks like regret but isn’t. It can’t be.

Because if he truly regretted this, he wouldn’t have done it in the first place.

My chest caves in, the weight of everything I’ve ignored, everything I’ve pretended not to see, crushing me all at once.

The long nights when he didn’t come to bed. The way he pulled away, the way he always seemed to find a reason to be anywhere but with me, the missed calls, the no-reason fights. The way Claire had slipped into our home, our routine, my son’s affections, so seamlessly, so effortlessly.

The three of us look more like a family than with you, Mommy.

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

A sob claws its way up my throat, but I swallow it down. Not here. Not now.

I glance at Finn, curled up on the couch, his little chest rising and falling in sleep. My baby. My entire world. And I had been so worried about failing him, about not being enough for him… for them, that I didn’t see what was happening right in front of me.

Sebastian takes a step toward me. “Thea, just let me expla—”

I don’t let him finish.

I turn.

And this time, when I walk up the stairs, I don’t run. I don’t stumble.

I walk.

I push the door to our—no, his—room open with force, the door almost flying off its hinges. The closet is next. I rip it open, hands shaking as I grab my bag and start shoving clothes inside, the fabric crumpling under my grip.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry here.

The zipper screeches as I yank it closed, my fingers white-knuckled around the handle. The room is spinning. I force myself to move, grabbing my bag and the brown envelope from the bedside table and stuffing it under my arm before turning toward the door—

But Sebastian is there.

His jaw is tight, his eyes wild, his chest rising and falling in deep, measured breaths like he’s trying to calm himself.

“Thea, just… listen to me, okay?”

"Fuck off." I sidestep him, but he blocks me, his hand gripping the doorframe.

"Can you at least let me explain?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "Explain?" My voice cracks. "What is there to explain, Sebastian? What is there to explain? You cheated! You were—" My breath shakes. "You were cheating all this time, and I was too blind to see it!"

His presses his lips into a thin line, his gaze flickers to the purse under my arm, then back to me, and I see it.

The shift.

"And what about you?" His voice is low, taunting. "What the hell have you been doing all these years, Thea?"

I freeze.

His eyes narrow. "Or do you think working late and charming your way up the corporate ladder makes you different from me?"

My stomach twists. "What the hell are you—"

"Oh, come on." His laugh is cold. "Don’t act so fucking righteous. You know what they say about women like you? Cold. Proud. Too busy pretending to be a man to keep a family together."

I grip my bag tighter, speechless. "Fuck you."

"That’s all you ever say, isn’t it?" He steps closer, voice dripping with mockery. "Fuck you, Sebastian. Fuck you for not worshipping my career. Fuck you for wanting a wife who actually comes home at night.”

I shake my head, my breath hitching. "That’s not—"

"Isn’t it?" His smile is cruel now. "You put your job before everything. Before me. Before Finn. Before this family. And now you get to act like the victim?"

“That's because you can't fucking act like the man in this house!” I scream, wanting to hurt him too. “You have no spine, just a proud masculine bone and weak hands!”

My throat burns. "And you think that justifies what you did?! That justifies you lying piece of shit?!”

"I think it makes us even." He says, his voice low and threatening.

The words hit like a slap.

I swallow hard, staring at the man I once loved, the man I chose—and I don’t recognize him anymore. Maybe I haven’t in a long time. Maybe I just didn’t want to see it.

I take a slow step back, my heart pounding in my chest. "Move, Sebastian."

His smirk fades. "Thea—"

"Move." My voice is hoarse. "Because if you don’t, I swear to God, I will scream loud enough to wake Finn up, and you will never get to explain yourself to him or the neighbours."

His jaw clenches, but he steps aside.

I don’t look at him as I walk past.

I don’t run.

I don’t stumble.

I walk.

Out of the life I thought was mine.

Out before they can break me any further.

On my way to the door, my eyes land on Claire. She's still standing at that spot, the sheets wrapped around her.

“Take care of him.” I say before yanking the door open and dragging my bag out to my car.

Is this what motherhood is? Is this what marriage is? Giving and giving until there's nothing left only to be told you were never enough to begin with?

“I'm getting a divorce.” I whisper to myself as I finally let the tears fall.

Then, I drive into the night. I didn't even get to say goodbye.

But I know when to step back when I'm no longer needed. For my sake, and for theirs.

You cannot love a person into loving you no matter what you do.