Faithless

Marriage did not break Aeries.

It eroded her slowly.

Five years ago, she married Mateo out of obligation after one reckless night left her pregnant with twins. What began as duty became routine, and routine became survival. Mateo provided everything a woman was supposed to want: a beautiful home, financial security, a complete family.

Except fidelity.

Aeries spent years swallowing lipstick stains, unfamiliar perfume, late-night excuses, and the humiliation of being loved only when Mateo feared losing her. Every betrayal ended the same way-flowers, vacations, apologies whispered against her skin, and promises that never lasted long enough to matter.

Until one day, she stopped crying.

And that terrified Mateo more than her tears ever did.

As Aeries grows colder and more distant, an old childhood friend returns and reminds her of the woman she used to be before marriage reduced her to merely surviving. For the first time in years, she begins to wonder if love is supposed to feel this lonely.

But when she finally leaves, Mateo realizes too late that the wife he took for granted was the only person who ever truly loved him.

Now, after destroying the woman who stayed through everything, Mateo is left with a painful truth:

Sometimes love does not die all at once.

Sometimes it disappears quietly.

And sometimes, the cruelest thing in the world is realizing someone stopped loving you long before they walked away.