The entire house was quiet. Too quiet for a home that had once been filled with laughter, affection, and dreams.

Sophia Gonzaga sat at the long dining table, staring at the food that had already gone cold. It was ten o’clock at night. Two hours had passed since she and her husband were supposed to have dinner together.

But as usual, Adrian was nowhere to be seen.

Once again, he had not come home early. And just like every other night, she would probably end up eating alone. Not that it mattered, the food was already cold.

She let out a quiet sigh as she glanced at the wall clock. Even the ticking seemed to understand how empty she felt.

10:07 PM.

How many times has this happened? She had already lost count.

At first, she used to worry. She would call Adrian over and over again and send him countless messages. She would stay awake until dawn just to make sure he got home safely.

Because he was her husband but eventually, she grew tired. Every time she showed concern, Adrian always gave her the same answers.

"I'm busy."

"I have a meeting."

"Stop acting like a child, Sophia."

A piece of her heart died every time she heard those words. It was as if her worries meant nothing to him. As if all the time she spent waiting did not matter at all. She stood up and started putting the food away. There was no point in waiting anymore.

Suddenly, she heard the front door open. She froze.

He was finally home. The sound of Adrian’s footsteps echoed through the house. Before, she would run to greet him the moment he arrived. But now? She simply stood there.

There was no excitement left, no butterflies, just exhaustion.

A few seconds later, Adrian entered the dining area. He was still wearing his black suit. His tie was slightly loose, and he looked tired from work. Yet he was still handsome and that was the painful part. No matter how many times he hurt her, she could not deny how deeply she loved him. Or maybe… She still loved the man he used to be.

"You're still awake?" Adrian asked as he removed his watch.

Sophia smiled but it was not a happy smile. There was bitterness in it, frustration and pain she could no longer understand.

"Really?" she asked softly. "That's the first thing you're going to say?"

Adrian looked at her, and she immediately noticed the irritation on his face.

"I'm tired, Sophia."

She let out a quiet laugh. "Of course."

They stared at each other in silence. There was a time when a single look was enough for them to understand one another. Now, they felt like two strangers forced to live under the same roof.

"Did you already have dinner?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Something tightened painfully inside her chest. "With her?"

The air suddenly felt colder and Adrian's expression changed at once.

"Sophia."

"It's just a simple question, Adrian."

He did not answer and in that silence, she got her answer. She shook her head. It still hurts. She thought she had gotten used to it and apparently, she had not.

"Unbelievable," she whispered.

"Sophia, I don't want to fight."

She looked at him. "Neither do I. Did I say I wanted one?"

And that was the truth. She was tired of fighting. Tired of crying. Tired of chasing after him. Tired of being the wife of a man who no longer chose her.

"What do you want me to do?" Adrian asked.

She laughed not because it was funny but because it was heartbreaking.

"You're seriously asking me that?"

"Because nothing I do is ever enough for you."

Something exploded inside her. Not enough? Really?

For seven years, she had put him first. For seven years, she had supported every dream he had. For seven years, she had loved him even while he kept hurting her. And she was the one who was never satisfied?

"Because it's not enough?" she repeated quietly.

Adrian fell silent.

Sophia slowly walked toward him. Step by step, she closed the distance between them until only a few feet remained.

"When you started lying to me, was that enough?"

"Stop."

"When you chose to spend time with her instead of coming home to your wife, was that enough?"

"Sophia."

"When you kept making me feel like I no longer mattered in your life, was that enough?"

Adrian's jaw tightened.

She could see that he was losing his patience but this time, she did not care. She had stayed silent for far too long. She had endured enough. Now she wanted him to hear the pain she had been carrying all this time.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

Silence filled the room and even Adrian could not answer.

"I have nothing left to give, Adrian."

It felt like the first time she had ever said those words out loud. And the moment she heard them, something inside her finally broke. Not anger nor hatred. Just exhaustion and a deep, crushing exhaustion.

She grabbed the edge of the table when weakness suddenly washed over her. Not because of the argument but because of a truth she had known for a long time.

They were over. They had been over for a long time. She had simply refused to accept it.

"Sophia..."

But she shook her head. "Don't."

Adrian frowned. "Don't what?"

She looked at him for a long moment without speaking. As if she was searching for the man she had fallen in love with. The man who promised he would never hurt her. The man who said she would be the only woman he would ever love.

But he was gone. He had been gone for a long time.

"Loving you is exhausting."

Adrian's eyes widened.

For the first time in months, she saw him completely speechless. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. She did not want him to see it. She did not want to look weak in front of him. Not anymore and not after everything.

"I should have said that a long time ago."

Adrian remained silent and somehow, that hurt the most. He said nothing. He did not deny it. He did not even apologize. It was as if he no longer cared about their marriage at all.

And that was when the last piece of hope inside Sophia finally died. She slowly turned away. Every step felt like thousands of needles piercing her chest but she kept walking. Because if she stopped now, she might break again.

She might forgive him again. She might hope again. And she was so tired of hoping.

When she reached the staircase, she paused for a moment but she did not look back. That was one thing she would never do again.

Never.

"Good night, Adrian," she said in a quiet, cold voice, as if she were speaking to a stranger.

And for the first time in their seven years together, she heard no reply from her husband. Inside that silent house, neither of them knew that in just a few days, everything would change.

And the goodbye Sophia had been waiting so long to say would not happen in the way she expected.

The next morning, Sophia Gonzaga woke up earlier than usual but it wasn't because she had slept well. It was the exact opposite. She had barely slept all night. The words she had said to Adrian kept replaying in her mind.

"Loving you is exhausting."

It was probably the most honest thing she had said in the past year and the painful part was that even though it was true, she still loved her husband. It wasn't easy to forget him. It wasn't easy to erase what she felt. She still loved him deeply despite everything he had done to her. That was why it hurt so much because this wasn't how everything had started.

In the beginning, Adrian had been the kind of man every woman dreamed of. He was sweet, caring, loving, and always put his wife first but as his company grew, he slowly changed.

Until one day, Sophia woke up and realized she no longer recognized the man sleeping beside her. She let out a sigh as she prepared a cup of coffee. The house felt unusually quiet.

Adrian was gone again. That wasn't surprising anymore. He often left without even telling her. She closed her eyes for a moment. Before, she would follow him. She would ask where he was going and when he would be home. But now? She no longer had the strength to ask.

Suddenly, her phone rang. The caller ID showed the name of her best friend.

Mia.

She answered immediately.

"Hello?"

"Soph..."

She instantly noticed something strange in Mia's voice. It sounded like she wanted to say something but was hesitant.

"What is it?" Sophia asked.

There was a brief silence.

"Where are you?"

"At home."

"Alone?"

Sophia frowned. "Yes. Why?"

Mia fell silent again and that was when Sophia started to feel nervous.

"Mia."

"Promise me you'll stay calm, okay?"

Her heart immediately began to race. She didn't know why but something felt wrong. Terribly wrong. And whatever it was, she had no idea.

"Mia, just tell me."

She heard her friend take a deep breath.

"Soph... I saw Adrian last night."

Sophia froze. It felt like someone had poured ice-cold water over her entire body. That alone wasn't unusual. Many people had seen Adrian in different places before but there was something in Mia's voice. And Sophia knew that wasn't all she wanted to say.

"Where?" she asked softly.

"At the Grand Meridian Hotel."

She swallowed hard. It was one of the most famous luxury hotels in the city. And not once had Adrian ever taken her there.

"What was he doing there?"

Mia fell silent again and Sophia's stomach sank because deep down, she already knew the answer. She just didn't want to hear it.

"He was with someone."

Something tightened painfully around her chest. So tight that it became hard to breathe. She couldn't speak, she could hear her own breathing, she could hear her heart pounding and she could hear the broken part of herself desperately hoping she was wrong.

"Who?" she whispered.

"I don't know her."

Sophia closed her eyes but that wasn't enough to lessen the pain. She needed to know. She needed to see. She needed to be sure. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe it was a business meeting. Maybe it was just an employee.

Maybe—

"They were holding hands, Soph."

And in an instant, every excuse she had been trying to build inside her head shattered.A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it.

Then another and another. Until she lost count. Her face was soaked with tears before she even realized it.

"Soph..."

She didn't answer. She couldn't bear to hear anything else. Every word felt like a knife pressing deeper into her heart. It felt like her entire world was slowly collapsing. Because no matter how many times she had suspected Adrian, it was different when someone else confirmed it.

It was different when it became real.

"I'm sorry."

But those words meant nothing now. Not today and maybe not ever. After the call ended, Sophia remained seated in the kitchen for a long time. She simply stared into space. No emotion showed on her face. Sometimes, when the pain becomes too much, you stop crying.

You just shake and that was exactly how she felt. Then suddenly, she remembered something. Slowly, she stood and walked toward Adrian's home office.

She had avoided entering that room for a long time. Somehow, it felt like she no longer belonged there. As if there were parts of her husband's life that were no longer meant for her but today, she didn't care.

She slowly opened the door. The office was quiet, clean, and perfectly organized. Just like the man who owned it. She walked toward the desk and that was when she noticed a phone lying on top of it.

It wasn't Adrian's usual phone. It was an older model. As if he had accidentally left it behind. Sophia frowned and picked it up. When the screen lit up, her eyes widened.

The phone wasn't locked and right there on the screen was a notification. A message from a woman saved as:

Ava ❤️

The world seemed to stop. She couldn't breathe and she couldn't move. Her trembling fingers tapped the screen and then she saw the messages she wished she had never read.

"I miss you already."

"Last night was perfect."

"When are you telling your wife?"

Sophia felt as if someone had grabbed her heart and squeezed it mercilessly. Again and again. Until nothing was left. A tear fell onto the screen before she noticed it.

She couldn't stop crying because the truth she had feared for so long was finally right in front of her. It wasn't a suspicion anymore nor was it a gut feeling. It wasn't gossip and it was the truth.

Her husband had another woman and what hurt even more was that it seemed to have been going on for a long time. She covered her mouth to stop herself from sobbing but she failed.

Slowly, she sank to the floor. Wrapping her arms around herself, she cried. And somewhere else in the city, Adrian had no idea that his wife had discovered the secret he had hidden for so long.

Nor did he know that on that day, a heart had finally shattered because of him.

It turned out that there was nothing more painful than seeing your greatest fear finally become reality. That was what Sophia learned as she sat on the floor of Adrian's home office. She had no idea how long she had been crying.

Maybe a few minutes or maybe an hour. Maybe even longer. She no longer cared.

It felt as though time had stopped and the world had stopped. Everything had stopped. Everything except the pain that continued to consume her.

Adrian's phone was still beside her and the screen was still on. And the messages were still there, stabbing her heart over and over again.

"I miss you already."

"Last night was perfect."

"When are you telling your wife?"

Wife.

Not Sophia and not her name. Just a wife.

As if she was nothing more than an obstacle in their lives. A problem that needed to be removed. She closed her eyes and wiped away her tears. She didn't know which hurt more. The fact that Adrian had cheated on her or the fact that it had been going on for so long because what she had read was not a one-night mistake.

Not a careless decision and not a moment of weakness. It was a relationship and it was clearly serious. Slowly, she placed the phone back on the desk. She didn't want to read anymore. She didn't want to discover more details.

What she had already seen was enough to destroy everything.

She stood up. As she looked around her husband's office, memories suddenly came rushing back. Memories that once made her smile. Now, they only made her cry.

Seven years ago, they were newly married. Back then, they lived in a small condominium unit. There was no mansion, no luxury cars, no multi-million-dollar contracts but they were happy.

She remembered how Adrian would wrap his arms around her while she cooked. How he would pretend not to know how to do simple things just to make her laugh. How he would tell her that his day never felt complete unless he saw her.

Back then, Sophia had been the center of Adrian's world. And Adrian had been her entire world but everything changed when his company started growing.

At first, she understood. More meetings, more business trips and more responsibilities, that was normal.

She supported him and she was even proud of him but as Adrian became more successful, he slowly drifted away from her. There were fewer date nights.

Fewer phone calls and fewer hugs. Until one day, it felt like there was nothing left. She couldn't even remember exactly when it happened because it disappeared little by little.

Like a candle slowly burning out. Until one day she woke up and realized she was alone in her own marriage.

Sophia blinked and returned to the present. Somehow, remembering the happy moments hurt even more because it made her realize just how much she had lost.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. The sound was familiar and only meant one thing, Adrian was home.

She froze and for the first time since learning the truth, she didn't know how to face him. She didn't know if she could pretend. She didn't know if she could look at him without thinking about the other woman.

A moment later, she heard the front door open and then footsteps approaching.

Quickly, she wiped the tears from her cheeks. She didn't want him to see her crying. She didn't want to give him that satisfaction. A few seconds later, Adrian appeared at the office doorway. He stopped the moment he saw her.

"Soph?"

His eyes moved to her and then to the phone on the desk. The color immediately drained from his face. He looked frozen and silent. And in that silence, Sophia got the confirmation she needed.

Adrian knew. He knew he had been caught.

"Don't you have anything to say?" she asked quietly.

Her voice was soft, but every word carried pain and Adrian didn't answer right away.

"Sophia..."

She let out a bitter laugh.

"'Sophia' is all you have to say?"

His jaw tightened and he couldn't even look at her properly and somehow, that hurt even more. An innocent person would argue. An innocent person would explain. An innocent person would defend themselves but Adrian remained silent. And the guilt was written all over his face.

"How long?" she asked.

He said nothing.

"How long, Adrian?"

He let out a long sigh and at that moment, her heart shattered even more because she knew he could no longer deny it. Not anymore.

"A few months."

It felt like she had been slapped. A few months? For how many months had he made a fool of her? For how many months had he pretended nothing was wrong? For how many months had she gone home alone while another woman waited for her husband?

"You're lying."

Her voice was quiet, but every word cut like a blade. Adrian's eyes widened slightly.

"I know you, Adrian." Silence filled the room once again. "That wasn't a few months."

Still, he said nothing and that was all the answer she needed. She had thought it would take time to find proof. Apparently, it hadn't. Maybe that was for the best. Tears streamed down her face again. This time, she didn't bother wiping them away. Let him see her pain. He deserved to see it.

"Why?"

That was the only question she asked. She didn't scream. She wasn't hysterical. She wasn't angry. Just one simple question.

Why?

Why wasn't she enough? Why did he have to find someone else? Why destroy seven years of marriage? But Adrian's answer destroyed whatever remained of her heart.

He sighed. Then he finally looked at her. His eyes were cold as if he was tired. As if he felt nothing at all.

"I don't know if I love you anymore."

Sophia's world stopped and she couldn't hear anything. It felt as though even the air had abandoned her.

As though all the light around her had disappeared. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her own heart breaking because sometimes the truth hurts more than any lie.

And at that moment, Sophia realized something. It wasn't the affair that broke her. It wasn't the other woman. It wasn't even a betrayal. It was the fact that Adrian Gonzaga had stopped loving her a long time ago.

And she had been the last person to know. For the first time in seven years of marriage, Sophia felt like she no longer had a husband.

And perhaps… she hadn't had one for a very long time.