Broken Again
1060 Words
The apartment became unbearably silent.
Alicia stood frozen near the bathroom door, water still dripping slowly from her hair onto the floor.
Bob remained seated at the edge of the bed holding her phone tightly in his hand.
The glowing screen reflected against his face.
Against the tears gathering in his eyes.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them breathed normally.
Finally, Bob spoke.
Quietly.
Dangerously quietly.
“You’re still talking to her.”
Alicia swallowed hard.
“Bob”
“After everything.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“You’re still talking to my mother.”
Alicia wrapped her arms around herself instinctively.
“It’s not what you think.”
Bob laughed bitterly.
“That line stopped working a long time ago.”
He stood slowly.
Pain radiated from every movement.
“You told me this was over.”
Alicia’s eyes filled immediately.
“I was trying to end it.”
“Trying?”
Bob stepped closer.
“Trying?”
The hurt inside his voice felt unbearable.
“You slept with my mother for months, Alicia!”
“Please lower your voice”
“WHY?”
The shout echoed across the apartment.
Alicia flinched.
Bob looked shattered now.
Not angry anymore.
Just broken.
“You know what hurts the most?” he asked weakly.
Alicia remained silent.
“I still love you.”
Those words hit harder than screaming ever could.
Bob looked away briefly, trying to control himself.
“I crossed oceans for you.”
Tears rolled down Alicia’s face.
“I know.”
“I forgave things no man should ever forgive.”
“I know…”
“And somehow…”
Bob stared directly into her eyes.
“…I’m still not enough.”
Alicia broke down crying immediately.
“That’s not true!”
“Then why can’t you let her go?”
Silence.
Terrible silence.
Because Alicia herself didn’t know the answer anymore.
Bob turned away and walked toward the living room slowly.
Alicia followed behind him desperately.
“Please talk to me.”
Bob laughed painfully without looking back.
“What’s left to say?”
“You think this is easy for me?”
Bob spun around suddenly.
“Easy?”
His eyes were red now.
“You think I sleep peacefully knowing my wife and my mother were together?”
Alicia cried harder.
“You think I don’t hate myself already?”
Bob’s expression shifted briefly at those words.
Because for the first time…
He saw how broken she looked too.
Emotionally exhausted.
Confused.
Ashamed.
But the sympathy inside him couldn’t overpower the pain.
Not anymore.
“You have to choose,” Bob said finally.
The words froze the room instantly.
Alicia stared at him.
“What?”
Bob’s breathing became heavier.
“I can’t keep fighting for somebody whose heart belongs somewhere else.”
“Bob”
“You have to choose.”
Tears streamed endlessly down Alicia’s face now.
“This isn’t fair.”
Bob looked at her with disbelief.
“Fair?”
He shook his head slowly.
“Nothing about this has been fair.”
Silence swallowed the apartment again.
Then quietly…
Almost like a child afraid of the answer…
Bob asked:
“Do you love her more than me?”
Alicia’s lips trembled.
“I don’t know.”
Wrong answer again.
Bob closed his eyes briefly like someone physically struck.
Then nodded slowly.
Because deep down…
He finally understood the truth.
Alicia’s confusion itself was the answer.
That night, Bob left the apartment.
He walked endlessly through unfamiliar Canadian streets while cold wind pushed against his jacket.
Cars passed.
Strangers laughed nearby.
Life continued normally around him.
But inside his chest…
Everything felt destroyed.
He stopped near a bridge overlooking dark water and gripped the railing tightly.
For the first time in his life, loneliness felt physical.
Heavy.
Crushing.
His own mother had become his rival.
What kind of life was this?
Back inside the apartment, Alicia sat alone crying on the floor for nearly an hour before her phone vibrated.
Agnes calling.
Alicia stared at the screen through tears.
Then answered weakly.
“What happened?”
Agnes immediately heard the pain in her voice.
“Alicia?”
“He saw the messages.”
Silence.
Then Agnes exhaled slowly.
“I warned you this would happen.”
Alicia almost laughed from emotional exhaustion.
“You warned me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
Agnes’ voice softened.
“Where is he?”
“He left.”
Another silence followed.
Then Agnes asked quietly:
“Are you okay?”
That simple question broke Alicia emotionally again.
“No.”
Hours later, Bob finally returned home after midnight.
The apartment was dark except for one small lamp near the couch.
Alicia sat there waiting silently.
Her eyes swollen from crying.
Bob removed his jacket slowly without speaking.
“I’m sorry,” Alicia whispered.
Bob paused briefly.
Then laughed softly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the apology sounded meaningless now.
“I don’t even know what sorry means anymore.”
Alicia stood carefully.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
She nodded painfully.
“Yes.”
Bob stared at her for a long moment.
Then finally asked:
“If I never got approved to come here…”
Alicia’s chest tightened immediately.
“…would you have stayed with her permanently?”
She couldn’t answer.
And once again…
That silence wounded him more than words.
The next morning, Bob woke up early and quietly began searching for apartments online.
Alicia noticed immediately.
“What are you doing?”
Bob didn’t look at her.
“I think we need space.”
Fear rushed through her instantly.
“You want to leave?”
Bob finally raised tired eyes toward her.
“No.”
His voice sounded hollow.
“I think you already left emotionally a long time ago.”
Far away in her apartment in Toronto, Agnes sat alone beside the window watching rain slide down the glass.
Her phone rested quietly in her hand.
She knew something important now.
Bob was weakening.
Their marriage was collapsing.
And sooner or later…
Alicia would come back to her.
Not because of manipulation.
Not because of immigration papers.
But because some emotional bonds become impossible to break once crossed.
And Agnes was prepared to fight for that bond.
Even against her own son.
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