The shift

Sasa Vivin used to think love would be enough.

For a while, it was. Waking up to his messages, long talks under warm yellow lights, laughter tangled in pillows

it all felt like something permanent. Like she had found the place where she could finally rest.

But time has a way of wearing down even the softest beginnings.

Lately, he had started pointing things out. The things she lacked. The things she wasn’t. “You’re too naïve sometimes,” he’d say. “Don’t you think you should be doing better by now?” His voice wasn’t angry, just disappointed. And somehow, that hurt more.

She tried harder. Talked less. Smiled more. She wanted him to see her

not the flaws he has, not the hesitations nor the face she hides.

but the girl who loved him more than anything. She built herself around his joy. His happiness became the only proof she needed that she was doing okay.

She feels he is the only medicine for her pain her so called "love disease."

But he never really smiled the same way anymore.

One night, she asked, quietly, “Do you still want to be with me?”

He didn’t look up from his phone. “You’re overthinking again.”

“No,” she said, voice trembling, “I’m just asking. If you don’t... it’s okay.”

A long silence. Then, finally: “Take care of yourself, Sasa.”

That was it.

No “don’t go.”

No “I still love you.”

Just “take care.”

It was in that moment she realized

he never truly did love her. At least not in the way she needed to be loved.

He just went home without saying a word.

In that sudden silence, only the sound of a door slamming and her heavy breathing could be heard.

She sat there where he left her for hours without moving a muscle.

Tears flowed down her cheeks, over her chin like rain pouring from her eyes.

After all these years, why doesn’t he love me the way I loved him?

Did I not give him enough?

She kept thinking it was her fault.

That she lacked something in loving him.

Maybe I got it wrong.

Maybe he didn’t mean to leave.

I’ll just call him… ask him one more time.

She called. It rang.

He picked up on the last ring.

Silence.

Long, heavy silence. Minutes passed like hours.

And then, finally, he spoke.

“Maybe… maybe it’s the best thing. For you. For us.”

She hung up and didn’t call again. Neither did he.

And the silence that followed was not peaceful. It was heavy.

Sasa cried. For days, then weeks. Her pride told her not to beg, not to call. But her heart screamed into pillows at night. Everything reminded her of him , old songs, empty seats. The world kept moving. She stayed curled in pieces.

But pain has a quiet way of shaping strength.

She didn’t know it then, but something was breaking in her so something better could grow. Slowly, one cracked moment at a time, she started choosing herself again.

Even if the mornings still felt hollow. Even if healing didn’t look like what people said it should.

She had let go of a man she once believed was her home.

Now, she had to learn to build one inside herself.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***