But it didn’t matter anymore. Hazel had long since shut the door on any sadness tied to Ambrose.
Over the next few days, he didn’t come home. Hazel didn’t ask where he was or make any arrangements for him as she once would have. Instead, she handed in her resignation, said her goodbyes to a few close colleagues, and quietly began telling her friends of her plans to leave the country.
Her friends exchanged knowing glances, their sighs blending in perfect unison.
"We had a feeling this was coming," one of them murmured softly.
Without a word, one of them opened Ambrose's social media feed and handed the phone to Hazel.
"To the outside world, it might look like these pictures are of you," she said gently, "but we all know it's Scarlett."
Only then did the truth sink in. Ambrose had been with Scarlett this whole time. Though he rarely updated his social media, his posts had been flooding in, each one more frequent than the last, each one dedicated to her.
They visited amusement parks, tried on wedding dresses at bridal shops, and shared quiet moments under the moonlight atop a mountaintop.