Alice ended the call abruptly, her fingers trembling as she tossed the phone onto the dashboard. Her mind was spinning, her chest felt heavy, and her throat burned with the weight of the questions she couldn't hold back anymore.
"Why, James?" she whispered, her voice shaking. Then louder, "Why did you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?"
James remained silent, staring out the window, his jaw clenched.
Alice couldn't stop herself now—the floodgates had opened. "Am I not enough for you? Do I not love you the way you want? Is it my fault? Am I not as pretty as her?" Her voice broke with each question, the pain spilling out in every word.
Still, James said nothing.
His silence only made the pain worse. Alice felt like she was breaking apart, her heart crumbling under the weight of betrayal and confusion. "Say something, James! Anything! Just tell me the truth. I need to know why."
James ran a hand through his hair, his face unreadable. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, as if the words were caught in his throat.
"Was it her voice?" Alice pressed, tears streaming down her face. "Did she make you feel something I couldn't? Or was it just convenient for you to have someone else while I was away, trusting you with everything I had?"
James flinched but still refused to meet her eyes. His silence felt like a knife twisting in her chest, each moment of his refusal to answer cutting deeper.
"I gave you everything, James," she said, her voice barely above a whisper now, the fight draining out of her. "I believed in you. Even when things were hard, I never doubted us. But now..." Her voice cracked, and she wiped at her tears angrily.
The quiet inside the car was deafening, broken only by Alice's uneven breathing. James finally shifted in his seat, but the words she desperately needed from him never came.
Instead, he simply said, "I didn't mean for this to happen."
Alice froze, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. "You didn't mean for this to happen?" she repeated, her voice incredulous. "That's all you have to say?"
James sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "It's not as simple as you think, Alice."
"Not as simple?" Alice's voice rose, filled with anger and heartbreak. "You cheated on me, James! You lied to me, hid things from me, and now you're telling me it's complicated?"
James's silence was the final blow. Alice felt her resolve crumbling, the love she had held onto for so long now slipping through her fingers like sand.
She pulled the car over to the side of the road, her hands trembling. Turning to James, she looked at him, her eyes filled with pain and tears. "You've already broken me, James. The least you can do is give me the truth."
But James still wouldn't answer, and his silence spoke louder than any words could.
James sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, his hands fidgeting as he avoided Alice's gaze. Finally, he spoke, his voice barely audible. "Sorry."
Alice's heart clenched at the word, the weight of it crashing down on her like a tidal wave. Her tears stopped for a moment as anger and disbelief replaced the pain.
"Sorry?" she repeated, her voice trembling with emotion. "Do you think that's enough? Do you think one word will heal the wounds you've given me, James?"
She leaned forward, her eyes blazing with a mix of hurt and fury. "Why did you do this to me? Tell me! Was I not good enough? Was my love not enough for you? I gave you everything, James—everything! I stood by you even when you didn't deserve it. I trusted you when everyone else told me not to."
James kept his head down, his lips pressed together, offering no defense.
Alice's voice cracked as she continued, her emotions spilling out like a flood. "Do you know how many times you broke me? How many nights I cried because of you? But I still forgave you. Every single time. I thought... I thought you'd change. That one day you'd see how much I loved you and you'd love me back the same way."
Her tears began to fall again, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. "I went against my parents for you, James. Do you know how much that hurt them? They told me you weren't right for me, that you'd only bring me pain. But I didn't listen. I believed in you. I believed in us. I thought I was fighting for something real."
She let out a bitter laugh, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "But I was stupid, wasn't I? I kept giving you chances, thinking you'd change, but you never did. You just took my love, my trust, and threw it all away."
James finally looked up, his eyes filled with regret, but he still said nothing.
Alice shook her head, her voice softer now but no less broken. "I should've left you a long time ago. I should've listened to everyone who told me you weren't worth it. But I didn't, because I thought love could fix everything. I thought you loved me enough to change."
She turned to him, her tear-streaked face full of pain and resolve. "But now I see it. You never really loved me, did you?"
James opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His silence was answer enough.
Alice took a deep breath, her chest heaving as she tried to steady herself. "I can't do this anymore, James. I can't keep breaking myself for someone who doesn't value me. I'm done."
Her voice didn't waver this time. The strength in her words came from a place deep within, a part of her that was finally ready to let go.
Alice's hands trembled as she picked up James's phone again. This time, James didn't resist. He sat quietly, staring at the dashboard, his face a mask of guilt and turmoil.
Alice's mind was racing, her emotions a tangled mess of anger, pain, and confusion. She scrolled through the call log and messages, determined to uncover the truth. As she delved deeper, James remained silent, his thoughts spiraling.
She can't know... James thought, his heart pounding in his chest. The name she might find was a name she knew—a name that would shatter her completely. He had tried to shield her from this, to keep her from learning the full truth, but now it seemed inevitable.
Alice's voice broke the silence, cold and trembling. "Why are you so calm now, James? What are you hiding? Who is she?"
James opened his mouth, but no words came out. His mind was at war with itself. If I tell her, it will destroy her. But if I don't, she'll find out anyway...
As Alice continued searching, her eyes landed on a thread of messages. The name attached to it made her breath catch in her throat. Her stomach twisted as she read the sweet exchanges, the words filled with care and affection—the kind she had once believed were reserved for her.
Her hands tightened around the phone as the realization sank in. "This can't be..." she whispered, her voice barely audible.
The name on the screen was one she knew well. It wasn't just any girl—it was someone close to her, someone she trusted. Her voice grew louder as the shock turned into disbelief. "James, her? Of all people? How could you?"
James's silence was deafening. He didn't look at her, didn't try to defend himself. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make this better.
Alice's world felt like it was crumbling around her. The betrayal wasn't just from James—it was from someone she thought was a friend, someone she had trusted. Her heart ached in ways she hadn't thought possible.
"You've been talking to her this whole time?" Alice's voice cracked as tears streamed down her face. "The calls, the messages... it was all her? You chose her over me?"
James finally looked at her, his face pale and filled with regret. "Alice, I never wanted you to find out like this. I didn't mean for it to happen—"
"Didn't mean for it to happen?" Alice interrupted, her voice trembling with rage. "You don't just 'accidentally' betray someone, James! You made a choice—a choice to lie, to cheat, and to hurt me."
She looked away, staring out at the empty road, trying to process everything. The pain was unbearable, but what made it worse was the realization that she had been blindsided by two people she had trusted the most.
James spoke softly, his voice filled with guilt. "Alice, I never wanted to hurt you. I didn't know how to stop it once it started. I didn't know how to tell you..."
Alice shook her head, her tears falling freely. "You didn't tell me because you knew it would destroy me. And you were right, James. It has."
The air in the car was heavy with heartbreak and betrayal, the weight of the truth pressing down on both of them. For Alice, this was more than just the end of a relationship—it was the end of trust, the end of the person she thought James was, and the end of the love she had fought so hard to keep alive
Alice's hands shook violently as she scrolled through the messages and photos on James's phone. Each word, each picture, felt like another dagger piercing her already broken heart. But nothing prepared her for what she found next.
There, among the photos, was one that made her breath catch in her throat. James and her cousin sister stood together in a mall, their faces close, their smiles unmistakably filled with a warmth Alice now knew wasn't meant for her.
Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest. Her cousin—the person she had grown up with, shared secrets with, and trusted implicitly—was the one James had betrayed her with. The realization was too much, and for a moment, the world spun around her. She could barely hold onto the phone as the weight of the betrayal crashed down on her.
Alice took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, but her voice trembled as she spoke. "James… If it were any other girl, maybe I could have found it in myself to forgive you. Maybe. But this?" She looked at him, her tear-filled eyes searching his face for a shred of remorse. "This is too much. This isn't just a betrayal from you—it's a betrayal from someone I called family."
James sat there, silent and guilt-ridden, unable to meet her gaze.
Alice's tears fell freely now, each drop carrying the pain and anguish she couldn't put into words. "Do you have any idea what you've done to me? Any idea how much this hurts?" Her voice cracked as she continued, her pain turning into anger. "I fought for you, James. Against my parents, against my friends, against my own doubts. I believed in you when no one else did. And this is what you give me in return?"
James finally spoke, his voice low and filled with guilt. "Alice, I didn't mean for it to happen. I swear, I—"
"Stop," Alice interrupted, her voice sharp despite her tears. "I don't want to hear your excuses. You didn't 'mean for it to happen'? That's not good enough, James. You had a choice, and you chose to betray me. To betray us."
She handed the phone back to him, her movements slow and deliberate. Her voice was quieter now, but no less filled with pain. "Thank you, James. Thank you for breaking my trust, for shattering my heart into a thousand pieces. Thank you for showing me how blind I was to your lies. I was madly in love with you, and you used that love against me."
James opened his mouth to speak, but Alice raised a hand, silencing him. "Don't. Just don't. I don't want to hear anything from you anymore."
The silence in the car was suffocating as Alice stared out the window, her tears blurring the view of the empty road ahead. She felt hollow, as though the very essence of who she was had been stripped away.
Finally, she started the car, her hands steady despite the storm raging inside her. "I'm done, James. With you, with your lies, with everything. You can go now."
James hesitated for a moment, as though he wanted to say something, but the look in Alice's eyes stopped him. He quietly opened the door and stepped out, standing on the side of the road as Alice drove away, leaving him—and their broken relationship—behind.
As the distance between them grew, Alice's tears continued to fall, but this time, they weren't just tears of sadness. They were tears of release, of letting go of a love that had only brought her pain.
She didn't know what the future held, but she knew one thing for certain: she deserved better. And this time, she was ready to fight for herself.