WHEN LOVE BECOMES A WEAPON
1251 Words
Juliana couldn't recall how she got home.
She only remembered the feeling of her chest burning and the city lights fading into nothing.
She locked the door to her tiny flat and slumped down against it,
Her back hitting the wood as if gravity had suddenly increased.
Her breathing came in tiny gasps, harsh and terrified, as if her lungs had forgotten how to function without him.
This was not heartbreak, but rather a slow suffocation.
Her phone vibrated in her hand, indicating 12 missed calls from Tommy.
She stared at the screen; fingers numb.
She had trained herself to respond quickly, explain herself, and apologize, even when she had done nothing wrong.
She had learnt his moods like sailors understood the storms.
When to speak.
When to be quiet.
When to shrink.
Tonight, she did not respond.
Instead, she curled inward, her palms unconsciously pressing on her tummy.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, to something that couldn't hear her yet.
Tears eventually flowed. Not too loud. Not particularly dramatic.
They slipped silently down her face, seeping into her sleeves like secrets she didn't know how to keep.
It was not always like this.
They used to be pretty good.
Tommy had been compassionate when they were younger before money, prestige and before people began murmuring his name in awe and hers in pity.
He used to walk her to her house. He held her hand as if she were something valuable that could not be replaced.
However, love does not rot overnight.
It decays gradually.
First there were the jokes.
"You're too sensitive."
"You read too much into things."
"You should be grateful."
Then the comparisons began.
"Indie understands my world."
"Indie doesn't get emotional over nonsense."
"You should try being more like her."
Then there were disappearances.
Missed calls are explained as meetings.
Perfume was explained away as a work dinner.
Coldness was explained as stress.
And whenever Juliana cried her eyes out?
He accused her of being manipulative.
"You're trying to trap me with emotions," he said once.
That sentence had become stuck in her chest like glass.
Her phone vibrated again.
This time, it was not Tommy.
It was Gina, her best friend. She sent a message:
“I overheard what happened. You should not have embarrassed him tonight.”
Juliana's fingertips trembled.
Embarrassed him?
Another message arrived before she could respond.
Gina: You've been acting unstable recently. You can’t just pop up at his doorstep and surprise him.
Aria was feeling unwell.
This is how it always went.
Her misery became a rumor.
His brutality arouses concern.
Minutes later, another message appears.
Josh: "Honestly, Juliana..." Indie has been quite helpful to Tommy. Take a step back before you destroy things for him.
You could ruin everything for him.
She laughed; an empty, broken sound that surprised even her.
Her friends had taken sides long before tonight.
She had simply been too in love to notice it.
The pain started at midnight.
A dull pain deep in her abdomen.
She initially ignored it. She had overlooked worse.
Emotional agony had taught her well.
However, the agony intensified. Sharper.
Despite the frigid room, she cuddled up on her bed, sweating.
"No," she murmured. "Please… not now."
Her phone started buzzing again.
This time, the message came from an unknown number.
Unknown: If you truly loved him, you wouldn't pretend to be a part of his life.
A photograph was included.
Tommy and Indie.
Laughing.
Intimate.
Taken less than an hour ago.
Aria's body started to convulse.
Her gut started to ache violently and unexpectedly.
She gasped, gripping herself, as panic pierced through the cloud.
Something was not right.
Everything seemed very wrong.
She attempted to call Tommy.
Once.
Twice.
She tried calling for the third time.
There was no response.
The pain became so intense that she couldn't breathe. Her eyesight had become blurry.
Her body folded in on itself, as if to protect something precious within.
"I'm sorry," she cried again, swaying back and forth. "I am trying. "I'm trying."
But the love she once had already failed her.
Now her body was paying the price.
The hospital smelt of antiseptic and loneliness.
Juliana lay on the tiny bed, staring at the ceiling tiles, as nurses hurried around her with a quiet urgency.
Words like stress, trauma, and problems hung in the air, but none of them landed properly.
She kept waiting for footsteps.
This is for Tommy.
For his vocals.
For him to step in the door, take her hand, and apologize.
He never came.
Instead, a woman dressed in an exquisite coat entered.
Dear Mrs. Voss.
Tommy's mother did not sit down. She stood at the foot of the bed; her gaze frozen as if Juliana were a problem to be solved.
"I told Caden that this relationship would destroy him," she explained quietly. "You've proven me right."
Aria attempted to speak, but her throat tightened.
"You're not suitable," Mrs. Voss continued. "Emotionally. Socially. Biologically."
Biologically.
The words pierced her.
"My son has a future," she stated. "And you are not part of it."
Aria's temples welled with silent tears.
"Sign this," Mrs. Voss said, laying papers on the tray next to her. "Let him go. Step away quietly. It'll be easy for everyone."
Including the woman who was currently in her position.
When the door closed behind her, Aria sensed something inside her give up.
It was not love.
But the last strand of hope she had.
Three weeks later, headlines flooded the city.
TECH HEIR ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT POWER COUPLE TO MERGE EMPIRES.
Aria spotted the photographs on a screen in a café she had not intended to visit.
On the screen, Tommy appeared polished. Smiling. Untouched.
While Indie clung to his arm as if she had always been there.
Nobody asked or knew about the girl who vanished.
Nobody asked about the price that was paid.
Her scholarship email arrived that same afternoon.
Due to missing evaluations and failure to meet performance standards, the business's proposal was quietly shelved.
Opportunities dried up like they never existed.
Pain had consequences, and the world punished women who broke quietly.
Aria packed only one suitcase that night.
She didn't bring much — just clothes, her sketchbook, and a little envelope she hadn't yet opened.
Inside was a note from her late father, written years ago and meant to be opened "when everything falls apart."
She had not understood it at the time.
But she did now.
The letter stated that you come from more than you know.
And one day, when the world attempts to erase you, you'll discover who you truly are.
Her hands shook in fear as she folded back the envelope.
She took one final look around the apartment, at the walls that had heard her weep and the space that had swallowed her anguish.
"I won't die here," she said quietly.
Aria booked a one-way ticket under a different name.
She removed all of her social media accounts. She has changed her phone number.
Cut every thread that linked her to the girl she used to be.
She didn't know where she was going.
Only that she was leaving a love that turned into a weapon.
Something dangerous began to form deep within her, beneath the grief, fear, and broken dreams.
It was not forgiveness.
No longing.
It was resolved.
Tommy Voss had taken everything she owned.
But she had a strong conviction that one day, she would take her life back.
- Writer
