The Art Of Unloving You

The first time I realized my husband was capable of destroying me… he was smiling. The ballroom glittered with gold and crystal, laughter echoing like nothing in the world could ever go wrong. I stood beside him—Mrs. Maristella Villareal—wearing a dress worth more than my silence. And God, I was so good at staying silent. Knight’s hand rested on my waist, firm, possessive. To everyone else, it looked like love. To me, it felt like a warning. “Smile,” he whispered, his lips barely brushing my ear, “People are watching.” I smiled. Because that’s what wives do when their husbands start coming home late. Because that’s what wives do when their husbands stop looking at them like they matter. Because that’s what wives do… before everything falls apart. “Knight,” I said softly, “who is she?” His grip tightened. I felt his body stiffened. Not confusion.
Not denial. Guilt. And in that single second, I knew. The woman across the room—dressed in red, bold, unapologetic—wasn’t just anyone. She was the reason my husband had stopped loving me. We stopped dancing, my body rigid with unexplainable pain… and anger. “She’s nothing,” he said. But he didn’t look at me when he said it. He was looking at her. I forcefully twist our position, now I’m looking straight at her. If my eyes can throw daggers, she’ll be dead by now. She’s confident, unaffected. And she was smiling back. I want to erase that smirk on her face. “Come on, let’s talk to my parents. We’re going now,” he whispered furiously. He can feel it. The turmoil inside me. That thick tension enveloping the three of us. He knew that I knew. When we got home he just dropped me off saying he needs to go out with his friends. Being a submissive wife, I usually ober. But tonight is different. Tonight, I followed him. I wasn’t supposed to.
 Good wives don’t chase. Good wives trust. But I wasn’t a good wife anymore. I’am a woman about to lose everything. With shaking hands I pressed the elevator button. ‘17th floor’ I reached the 17th floor. This isn’t random, I didn’t guess, someone intentionally sent me a message after Knight dropped me off. The hotel hallway was quiet. Too quiet. My heels echoed with every step, my heart pounding louder than reason. Room 1708. The door wasn’t fully closed. And that was my first mistake. I pushed it open— and the world ended. “Knight…” My voice came out as a whisper. Broken. Small. He froze. She didn’t. She just looked at me… and smiled. Like she had already won. “Get out,” that was the first thing he said to me. Not an explanation. Not my name. Just— “Get out,” colder this time. I felt something inside me shatter. “Knight, I—” “I said get out.” Cold. Sharp. Final. Like I meant nothing. Like I was nothing. But I didn’t leave. Because I loved him. And loving him… was the biggest mistake of my life. That night, I didn’t know yet— that the man I married wouldn’t just break my heart. He would bury me. Erase me. Destroy me so completely… that the world would believe I died. And maybe… a part of me really did. 
“Because the next time I opened my eyes… I was no longer his wife. I was his prisoner.”