I’m the one who stayed with you,
Im sorry, love, I was misled, begged Mark, his voice shaking. I dont know how it happened. Forgive me, I beg you! I swear Ill never speak to her again. Ill change jobs if you want. Shall we leave? Please, dont abandon me
***
September greeted Ellie with a cool but still gentle sun. Yellow leaves swirled at her feet, and the air smelled of damp earth and the promise of autumn. She hurriedly packed suitcases. Ahead lay a long journey to the Yorkshire Dales, where her mother, suddenly stricken with illness, waited.
At first it seemed a simple cold, but a deep unease settled in Ellies chest, growing each day. The doctors delivered a sudden, terrifying diagnosis that hit her like an icy shower. Mark stayed at home; he could not accompany his wife. Ellie had to make the only sensible choice: take her son and fly to her mother at once. Thus began their harsh, exhausting battle for precious time
The first three months blurred into endless doctor visits, lab tests, and frantic searches for a competent physician. Whenever a brief window opened, Ellie returned home, yet a feeling that something had changed haunted her. The house was still clean, cozy, and Mark tried to keep the routine, but Ellies thoughts seemed stuck in Yorkshire. The home wasnt abandonedMark kept the hearth warm and the meals readybut Ellies focus had shifted.
Just as her mother steadied a little, Ellie had to pack again. Her son, a bit weary from the flights and hospital corridors but obedient, travelled with her. More planes, more doctors, and hope that flickered then dimmed. By March there was a slight relief: her mother felt a bit better, and Ellie allowed herself a short break, returning home for a couple of weeks.
It was during this brief calm that a stubborn weed of truth pushed its head up. Tom complained that his phone had fallen into the bathtub. Ellie remembered a tip she had read in a womens magazineplace the device in a bowl of rice.
***
Ellie retrieved the smartphone, switched it on. The screen lit up, showing an incoming message. Mark was dozing peacefully on the sofa.
Tom, look, your phones working, Ellie said, handing him the device.
He took it lazily, scrolled through the notifications, and then froze.
Whats this? Ellie leaned in, noticing the shift in his posture Im falling in love with you more and more. What does that mean?
Mark startled, coughs trying to appear calm, his hands trembling slightly.
Ellie, youve misunderstood, he blurted, its just a joke, a colleague at work was teasing. We mess around sometimes
A joke? Ellie crossed her arms, feeling a cold creeping inside despite the warm room youre messing around?
Im being honest, its nonsense. We just work together, nothing personal.
Are you sure? Because messages like that arent usually sent by just colleagues, Ellie pressed, studying his face for any hint of deceit.
Im absolutely sure. Youre overthinking because of Mums illness. Lets drop it, go for a walk. The suns out, we need fresh air.
Marks insistence to leave was so strong that Ellie, exhausted after three months of relentless stress, chose to retreat. She believed him, attributing everything to nerves and fatigue. They walked, but the false calm lasted only briefly.
As soon as they returned, another message from the same colleague arrived, even more explicit. Ellie felt a sting of jealousy, but she decided to talk to Mark first, not to start a scene.
Tom, look at what she sent now. This isnt a joke.
Mark took the phone, his face turning pale.
Its a mistake. Ill tell her to stop.
Youll write to her? Or should I? Ellies voice trembled.
Ellie, I love only you. Lets not make a fuss over nonsense.
Then another flight. Again Mum, doctors, tests, hospital wards. Again Tom, the sole constant in the chaos. Mum improved a little, and Ellie finally got another short breather.
***
March came again. Mum felt a bit better, and Ellie managed another trip home to try to regain balance. But balance remained elusive. A text exchange she skimmed that day wouldnt leave her alone. She couldnt simply forget those words.
Ellie decided not to wait for another excuse and asked Mark directly what was happening.
Tom, I need the truth. I cant live with vague explanations.
Ellie, Ive already explained! It was just a badtimed joke. Why bring it up again?
Because it unsettles me, Ellie answered firmly.
Mark tightened his shoulders.
Ellie, why are you making this worse? Everythings already complicated
I spoke with your colleague, Ellie said, her voice turning icy she herself contacted me.
Mark froze.
She wrote Ellie continued, looking straight into his eyes she wrote: Yes, I love you. Yes, we were together. What will you say to that, Tom?
He stayed silent, his face turning ashen.
Leave, Ellies voice shook with restrained emotion pack your things and go.
No, he whispered, youre making a huge mistake! I never did anything with her. She imagined things, and you believed some mad story!
I dont believe you! Ellie slammed her phone, showing him the screenshot where the other woman confessed everything See! Your joke!
Mark bowed his head. Silence stretched on forever. When he finally looked up, guilt and desperation swirled in his eyes.
Fine. I slipped up. I love only you, Ellie, always have. Thats true.
Slipped up? Ellie laughed bitterly three years of lies in my face! How can you disrespect someone like that?
Its not a lie, I truly love you! Its just that you werent around often and I
Not around? Only cowards act like that! Ellie shouted, stepping back youre a coward!
But I didnt leave, Ellie, I didnt abandon you! he tried to grab her hand were still together
Ellie pulled away. It no longer mattered whether he stayed or left; the pain he caused eclipsed everything else.
You didnt abandon me? she asked, bitterly you were torn, drifting between us, yet you didnt leave
I couldnt! I love you!
Love? Ellie shook her head you didnt stay because you loved me, but because it was convenient. Im done analyzing your motives. I have to go. Mums condition worsened.
Another flight. Another Yorkshire hospital, more doctors, more battles, now carrying both her mothers illness and the weight of Marks betrayal.
***
Mum passed away in August. By New Years, Ellie moved through life like a daze, mechanically performing necessary tasks. The house she once called a fortress now felt foreign. Tom was her anchor, the only reason she didnt dissolve into endless grey.
When the first months of despair faded, she began to wake up, yet never fully recovered. Every glance at Mark burned. She could not look at him, hear his voice, see his face. Still, she clung to the need to care for Tom, who seemed to sense her turmoil.
Mark, realizing the depth of his wrongdoing, tried to repair things. He stayed nearby, offered help, begged forgiveness, pleaded for a fresh start.
Ellie, please, lets try again. I made a terrible mistake. I know. But I never left when you went to Mums. Isnt that proof of my love?
Ellies mind replayed the messages she had stumbled upon while cleaning her phone. The words she had missed in the heat of panic now resurfaced with stark clarity.
Youre my everything, he had written to his lover.
And her reply, which Ellie memorised:
Did I tell your wife everything? Someone should have pushed her. Any other woman would have left, but you a rag!
Ellie watched Tom building with his blocks in the corner, his concentration reminding her of her own childhood. He didnt deserve a home where his mother was haunted by a lying father.
Mark entered with two mugs of tea.
Here, herbal tea. Please, have a drink.
Ellie took the mug but didnt sip.
I cant, Tom
Ellie, we agreedtime heals. Give us time. Ill do anything to earn your forgiveness.
Time? she smiled bitterly time showed youre a master liar. You stayed because leaving became inconvenient, not because I was your love. Her words prove it. She wrote that she told you everything.
It was stupid of her! I told her it was over!
You didnt forbid her, Tom. You chose the easier lie to keep me from breaking.
Ellie inhaled deeply.
I cant forgive younot now. Maybe never. But I have to live. Tom has to live. Well stay apart. Ill send him to his aunt for a few weeks, and Ill stay with a friend while I figure out what I want next.
Marks face went pale. He understood this wasnt a pause; it was a genuine chance to lose everything.
Ellie, dont do that. Please. Ill see a therapist, any specialist. Ill quit my job if I must. Just dont go.
Im not leaving you, Tom, Im leaving the lies, Ellie whispered I cant love you now, and I wont live in falsehood any longer. Well talk when I return. If I ever return
***
Ellie never returned. Two months later the couple lived apart, and eventually she decided the family could not be kept, even for Toms sake. Tom changed jobs, cut ties with his lover, but Ellie knows that young woman will forever linger in his memory, and she cannot accept it. Never.
The hardest lesson Ellie learned was that trust, once shattered, cannot be patched with promises; honesty must be the foundation of any relationship, for without it even love loses its shape.
