Big Sleep

Chapter 4: Fractured Trust

The days after Amanda’s emotional withdrawal seemed to drag on endlessly. Nelson had hoped—prayed—that things would return to normal. But as the days passed, Amanda’s behavior became even more erratic, more distant. It was as though she was physically present but emotionally absent, a shell of the woman he had once known.

Then, one night, everything changed.

Nelson had been asleep, his mind weary from the constant tension, when he was woken by the sound of the front door creaking open. The clock on the wall blinked 2:14 AM. He sat up, confused, his heart already racing, sensing something was wrong. He glanced over at the empty space beside him, the sheets still cool from her absence.

His mind scrambled, trying to piece together what could have kept Amanda out so late. But when she finally stumbled through the door, her face flushed, her eyes darting to avoid his, Nelson felt a cold knot of dread settle in his stomach.

“Amanda?” His voice was hoarse, the quiet of the house pressing down on him.

She froze in the doorway, as though she hadn’t expected him to be awake. But she didn’t respond right away. Instead, she closed the door behind her with a soft click, letting the silence stretch between them. The smell of perfume lingered in the air, something foreign, not her usual scent.

Nelson’s pulse quickened. His eyes searched her, looking for something—an explanation, an apology, anything—but there was nothing.

“You’re home late,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, afraid that if he spoke too loudly, the truth would somehow become clearer.

Amanda didn’t look at him. Instead, she shrugged off her coat and tossed it onto the couch. “Yeah, I had some work stuff to finish up.”

Nelson felt his chest tighten. The lies were starting to pile up, and he could feel them suffocating him.

“It’s past 2 AM, Amanda,” he said, the frustration creeping into his voice. “What kind of ‘work stuff’ could keep you out this late?”

She turned toward him then, her gaze sharp, as though daring him to question her. “Nelson, it’s fine. I’m fine. Just let it go.”

But something in her tone, in the way her eyes avoided his, made his heart sink. He had been holding on to the hope that this was just a phase, just a rough patch they’d get through. But now, something felt undeniably broken.

Amanda’s nonchalance was like a slap to his face. She wasn’t even sorry. She wasn’t even acknowledging how deeply this was affecting him.

Nelson watched her, his mind racing. “Did you... were you with someone else?” he asked, the words coming out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Amanda’s eyes flickered for a moment—an imperceptible change—but it was enough. She wasn’t denying it. She wasn’t even trying to cover up the truth.

“Does it matter?” she asked, her voice cold, distant. “I don’t know what you want from me, Nelson. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

It hit him like a blow to the chest. The woman he had loved, the woman who had promised to stand by him, had betrayed him. And she didn’t even care.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You’ve been seeing someone else?” His voice was low, strained.

“I’m not a perfect person,” Amanda said, her words flat, her expression unreadable. “And I’m not in the mood for this conversation.”

Nelson’s world seemed to tilt, the weight of her words crashing down on him. He had known something was wrong for weeks, but this... this was a betrayal of the deepest kind.

“Who is he?” Nelson’s voice shook as he asked, but Amanda didn’t answer. She merely turned away, walking toward the kitchen, as though nothing had changed, as though her actions didn’t have the power to destroy everything they had built.

The silence between them was suffocating, and Nelson felt a bitter taste of anger and sorrow rise in his throat. He knew, deep down, that this was the breaking point. There was no coming back from this.

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Days later, the weight of the silence was unbearable.

The house that once felt like a home now felt like a prison. Nelson couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t focus on anything except the betrayal that had shattered the foundation of his world. He tried to talk to Amanda, to make sense of what had happened, but every conversation ended with her dismissing his feelings, treating him as if he were the one at fault.

It wasn’t long before he couldn’t take it any longer. The love he had once felt for Amanda had turned into a dull ache, something that had been drained dry, leaving only bitterness behind. She had broken his trust in the most unforgivable way.

On the day he left, he didn’t say much. There was nothing left to say. He packed a few things into a suitcase, the sound of the zipper closing echoing through the empty hallway. He didn’t even look at Amanda as he walked past her, her back turned as she stared at her phone, indifferent to his departure.

“Goodbye, Amanda,” he said softly, the words feeling hollow in his mouth.

She didn’t look up. Didn’t react. Just like everything else in their marriage, her indifference was the final blow.

Nelson left the house, stepping into the cold night, the weight of his broken heart pressing down on him. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew he couldn’t stay there any longer. He needed to be away from her, away from the lies and the betrayal.

He went back home. The place where he grew up, where he could find some peace, some clarity, away from the person who had once meant everything to him but had now turned into a stranger.

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