The sound of the door closing behind him echoed like a death knell in the house that had once been our home. I knew where he was going—back to her, using whatever excuse he needed to spend yet another night in Sophia’s arms.
As his figure disappeared down the hallway, I stood there, staring into the emptiness he had left behind. My mind was a storm of questions I couldn’t answer. Where had the Daniel who once loved me gone? Had I changed, or had he? Was it my fault for wanting too much, for believing that our vows had meant something?
Or had I always been just "someone else" to him—nothing more than a placeholder, waiting for Sophia to return and claim what had never truly been mine?
Perhaps, I thought bitterly, he had been wearing a mask all along, and I had been too blind to see the truth. The man I had loved was never real.