The first three weeks after Tedd disappeared were hell.
Not a slow-burning kind.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6EKk6XbCP
But the kind that came with a scream lodged in your throat, bleeding into every second of the day.
No note.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi61BLGtq9K
No goodbye.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78P6zxxcgn
No explanation.
I woke up expecting his arms—only to find an empty chair beside my hospital bed and a nurse who quietly said he had "resigned."
Just like that.
Vanished.
My body ached. My ribs still healing. But nothing hurt more than not knowing why.
Was it Carla?
Was it me?
Was it... us?
I tried to be strong. Tried to believe he had a reason. But each unanswered text, each voicemail left on read, each day that passed without a sign... it chipped at my sanity.
So I spiraled.
I drank.
At first it was just wine. Then shots. Then clubs. Then strangers who didn't ask about broken hearts or fatherless children.
Yuna and Mel tried to stop me.
"Jae, please. You're not okay."
"No," I told them. "I'm just not pretending anymore."
I danced like nothing mattered. Laughed too loud. Flirted too carelessly. Cried in the bathroom stalls, mascara bleeding into my lips.
Max stayed with my mom.
I couldn't bear for him to see me like this.
Not when all I could hear was his small voice asking, "Where's Daddy?"
I didn't know.
And the not knowing was killing me.
One night, I collapsed in my bedroom.
Sober.
Alone.
I stared at the ceiling and whispered, "If you left because you stopped loving me... just say it."
But the silence never answered.
Only my own heartbeat, still whispering his name.
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