Deciding to Break Up: Start By Understanding All His Lies

During a camping trip, my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend serenaded him with a song and handed him a bouquet of flowers.

All of our old friends turned to look at me, expecting me to tremble with anger or cry my heart out.

But I just smiled and said, "You two seem so perfect for each other. Why not share a tent tonight?"

*****

During our summer vacation, my boyfriend, Daniel Harrington, insisted on bringing his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Baker, along despite my objections.

Not only that, they left me behind at a highway rest stop.

I was both heartbroken and furious, but when the police brought me home, Daniel accused me of being lazy and embarrassing him.

That was when I snapped and accused him of caring more about Brenda than me.

He called me petty and slammed the door on his way out.

We argued for nearly half a month.

This morning, Daniel finally smiled at me and said, "I admit I was partly wrong.

"How about we go watch the sunrise together at the mountaintop?

"I've already packed the tent and snacks!"

I knew he wasn't genuinely apologizing. He was only doing this because his parents were coming to visit in a few days, and we had plans to have dinner together.

In the past, whenever we fought, I would always cave in out of fear of losing Daniel. I would buy gifts and apologize, groveling until he finally smiled again and showed me affection.

This would go on for days.

Only then would Daniel warm up to me again.

I'd feel relieved and happily continue maintaining our fragile relationship.

It became a pattern, repeating over and over.

Daniel seemed to think it was always my fault.

It was as if he had a chokehold on me, suffocating me, yet I still forced myself to smile.

Lately, however, I'd started losing interest in everything related to Daniel.

So when he invited me to watch the sunrise, I simply replied, "Sure," and then turned to head back to the study.

In the past, watching the sunrise with Daniel was something I longed for.

But every time I mentioned it, Daniel would refuse.

Yet when Brenda invited him, he immediately got dressed up and went, and she would post their photos on social media just to spite me.

I was so angry I couldn't sleep for days.

Daniel told me not to overthink it, saying it was just a group of people going and that he couldn't say no.

When I came out of the study, Daniel was gone.

Even when the time we had agreed upon passed, he still didn't show up.

I didn't call or text him like I used to. Instead, I quietly called a cab and left with my luggage alone.

Life was like a dream. Rather than worrying about others, it was better to find happiness on one's own.

There were many people climbing the mountain.

Chatting with them made the journey less tiring. After reaching the summit and taking a short nap, I waited for the sunrise in the refreshing breeze.

The orange-red light broke through the thin clouds, gradually warming my face. It was so gentle and soothing.

I happily took a picture and posted it on social media, only to accidentally see a message Brenda sent in our old classmates' group chat.

It was a video of a concert with a girl singing along in the background.

I knew that voice too well. It was Daniel. But I didn't feel sad or surprised.

After all, this sort of thing had happened too many times to count.

I thought, "What difference did one more time make?

The only difference now was that I wouldn't call Daniel to question him.

There is no need anymore."