After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage novel Chapter 67

"Give me back my passport."

"We're already over."

"Where I go next is none of your concern, Pax."

I turned off my phone, the pale glow fading into the darkness.

Silence settled around me, thick and unshakable.

Pax knew I had never left the country before.

Knew I had never even considered applying for a passport.

Yet here I was.

At the beginning of the year, he had mentioned it so casually, like it was just another passing thought.

"I heard the first snowfall in Norway is breathtaking."

"You should get your passport sorted. We should go together sometime."

Back then, I had laughed, brushing him off.

"We should save money first."

We had never traveled together.

Never even made real plans.

Not for him.

For myself.

For a future I never told him about.

My phone vibrated again—a voice message.

His voice poured into the quiet, edged with disbelief, amusement barely veiling his irritation.

"Who said we broke up?"

A scoff. A short, incredulous laugh.

"Did I say we were over?"

His confidence was maddening.

"Cecilia, I know you can't bear to leave me, but do you really have to play this game?"

"You were looking forward to the trip. You even went and got your passport, didn't you? Secretly, without telling me."

"Why are you still pretending?"

I let the words sit there, unread, untouched.

Even now, even after everything, he still thought I wouldn't leave.

"Moving out was just me trying to clear my head."

"But I never meant for us to actually break up."

"You know that."

His voice was steady. Sure.

Like he believed, without a doubt, that no matter what, we would still be us.

And maybe, in some other time, some other life, I would have let myself believe him too.

Because I knew he loved me.

That part was real.

But so was the lie.

And I wasn't the kind of person who could forgive both.

I was selfish like that. Hypocritical.

A liar myself, but unwilling to accept being lied to in return.

Especially when Nina was still in the picture.

If he wouldn't end this,then I would.