~ Becca ~
Lydia noticed before Stephen admitted anything.
I knew that because women like her always do.
They don’t need proof. They feel the shift first. The way a man stops being fully present. The way his attention fractures. The way his anger stops being about you and starts being about someone else.
Me.
I didn’t hear it directly. Not at first. I felt it in the atmosphere.
The next few weeks were… loud in a quiet way.
Stephen started showing up everywhere again. Restaurants. Charity events. Random places he never cared about before. He never approached me the same way twice. Sometimes it was sarcasm. Sometimes fake concern. Sometimes that soft voice he used when he wanted to sound reasonable.
I shut him down every time.
Not dramatically. Not cruelly.
Just enough.
Just calm en
