Rain poured against the windows as Bethany stood in the bedroom, watching Larry sit downstairs with his phone.

Once again, Shara was calling him.

Bethany closed her eyes briefly before walking downstairs. She had promised herself she wouldn’t argue tonight, but watching Larry give another woman the attention she could no longer get from her own husband was becoming unbearable.

BETHANY: Larry, can we please talk?

LARRY: About what now, Bethany?

BETHANY: About us. About why you keep pushing me away every time I try to get close to you.

Larry sighed and placed his phone on the table.

LARRY: I’m not pushing you away. I’m just dealing with things that you don’t understand.

BETHANY: Then explain them to me. I’m your wife. Why do I have to beg you to tell me what’s happening in your life?

Larry looked toward his phone as another message appeared.

BETHANY: Is that Shara again?

LARRY: Yes, it’s Shara. She’s my ex-wife, Bethany. We have things to discuss.

BETHANY: And what about your current wife? Don’t we have things to discuss, too?

LARRY: Please don’t start comparing yourself to Shara.

Bethany shook her head, struggling to hold back her tears.

BETHANY: I’m not comparing myself to her. You’re the one making me feel like I’m competing for a place in my own marriage.

Larry stood up.

LARRY: I don’t have the energy for this tonight.

BETHANY: You never have the energy for me!

Her voice echoed through the living room.

Larry stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

BETHANY: I try to talk to you, and you walk away. I try to sit beside you, and you find a reason to leave. I try to show you that I still love you, but you act like my feelings are a burden.

Larry turned toward her.

LARRY: What exactly do you expect me to do?

BETHANY: I expect you to act like you still want to be married to me!

For a moment, Larry said nothing.

Then his phone rang again.

He picked it up and answered without explaining anything to Bethany.

LARRY: Shara, can I call you back?

Bethany stared at him.

Even now, he was willing to answer Shara while leaving his wife standing in front of him with unanswered questions.

She slowly turned away.

BETHANY: Don’t worry, Larry. I won’t bother you anymore.

Larry barely reacted.

LARRY: Good. Let’s both get some rest.

He walked upstairs.

Bethany remained downstairs, realizing that her marriage had reached a point where even her pain no longer seemed to matter to him.

Larry lay on the bed, scrolling through his messages.

Bethany entered quietly and sat beside him.

For a moment, she simply watched him, remembering how different their relationship had once been.

BETHANY: Larry, do you remember when we used to stay awake talking about our future?

Larry glanced at her.

LARRY: Bethany, not tonight.

BETHANY: Please. Just listen to me for five minutes.

He put his phone down reluctantly.

BETHANY: I know we’ve had problems, but I never thought we’d become strangers living in the same house. I miss the man who used to make me feel loved.

Larry looked away.

LARRY: People change. Things change.

BETHANY: But do they have to stop loving each other?

He didn’t answer.

Bethany gently reached for his hand.

Larry pulled away and stood up.

LARRY: I need space. Why can’t you understand that?

Bethany looked at him in disbelief.

BETHANY: Because you’re not asking for space, Larry. You’re shutting me out completely.

LARRY: I’m not going to argue with you.

BETHANY: Then tell me the truth. Is there something between you and Shara that you’re not telling me?

Larry’s expression hardened.

LARRY: Shara has nothing to do with our problems.

BETHANY: Then why does everything change whenever she calls?

Larry picked up his phone.

LARRY: I’m going downstairs.

Bethany watched him leave the room.

She had tried being patient. She had tried being understanding. She had tried giving him time.

Nothing had changed.

A few minutes later, she heard his voice in the hallway.

LARRY: I told you I would handle it. Just give me some time.

Bethany froze.

Who was he talking to?

Before she could hear anything else, Larry lowered his voice and walked away.

She stood beside the bedroom door, feeling as though there were entire parts of her husband’s life she wasn’t allowed to see.

That was when she made her decision.

She would leave before sunrise.

Not to punish Larry.

Not to make him jealous.

But because she couldn’t keep begging someone to let her into a life she was already supposed to share.

Larry eventually returned to bed and fell asleep.

Bethany waited until the room became completely quiet before getting up.

She opened the wardrobe and pulled out her suitcase.

One by one, she packed her clothes and personal belongings.

Then she noticed their wedding photograph on the dresser.

She picked it up and stared at their smiling faces.

BETHANY: I really thought we would grow old together.

Her voice trembled.

She placed the photograph back where it belonged.

Next, she sat at the desk and wrote a note.

She folded the note and placed it beside the photograph.

Then she picked up her suitcase.

Before leaving, she looked at Larry one last time.

He was sleeping peacefully, unaware that his wife was about to walk out of his life.

Bethany quietly left the bedroom, walked downstairs, and opened the front door.

The rain had stopped, but the night remained cold.

She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

For several seconds, she stood on the porch, looking at the home she had once believed would always be hers.

Then she walked away.

She had no idea that Larry’s next move would be far more painful than anything he had said to her that night.

Charlotte was preparing breakfast when someone knocked on the door.

She opened it and immediately noticed Bethany standing outside with a suitcase.

CHARLOTTE: Bethany? What happened? Why are you here so early?

Bethany tried to smile.

BETHANY: Can I stay with you for a few days?

Charlotte stepped aside.

CHARLOTTE: Of course. Come inside.

Bethany entered and placed her suitcase beside the sofa.

Charlotte studied her cousin’s face.

CHARLOTTE: Did you and Larry have another argument?

Bethany sat down.

BETHANY: I can’t keep doing this, Charlotte. I’m tired of feeling unwanted in my own marriage.

Charlotte sat beside her.

CHARLOTTE: Tell me everything.

Bethany explained how Larry had repeatedly rejected her attempts to get closer to him and how Shara’s calls seemed to take priority over their relationship.

BETHANY: I asked him if he still wanted me, Charlotte. He couldn’t even give me an answer.

CHARLOTTE: And you left while he was sleeping?

Bethany nodded.

BETHANY: I left him a note. I couldn’t face another argument.

Charlotte took her hand.

CHARLOTTE: What if he comes looking for you?

Bethany looked toward the window.

BETHANY: Then maybe he’ll finally realize that I’m not going to spend the rest of my life begging for his attention.

Charlotte wanted to reassure her, but something about Bethany’s story worried her.

CHARLOTTE: There’s something you need to remember. If Larry has been keeping secrets, leaving the house won’t necessarily make those secrets disappear.

Bethany looked at her.

BETHANY: What are you trying to tell me?

Charlotte hesitated.

CHARLOTTE: Nothing specific. I just don’t want you to make any decisions before you know the whole truth.

Before Bethany could respond, Charlotte’s phone vibrated.

An unknown number had sent her a message.

Charlotte stared at the screen.

BETHANY: Charlotte? Who sent you that?

Charlotte quickly locked her phone.

CHARLOTTE: Nobody important.

But Bethany had already seen the message.

And suddenly, she wondered whether someone else knew what was happening inside her marriage.

Larry woke up and reached across the bed.

Bethany wasn’t there.

He sat up and called her name.

LARRY: Bethany?

Silence.

He walked through the bedroom, then downstairs, expecting to find her in the kitchen.

The house was empty.

When he returned to the bedroom, he noticed the wedding photograph and the folded note on the dresser.

He opened it and read every word.

His expression changed.

LARRY: She actually left me?

He called Bethany immediately.

There was no answer.

He called again.

Still nothing.

Larry paced through the living room, growing increasingly frustrated.

Then his phone rang.

Shara.

He answered quickly.

LARRY: Did you speak to Bethany?

SHARA: No. Why?

LARRY: She’s gone. She left the house during the night.

Shara went quiet.

SHARA: Maybe she finally reached her limit, Larry.

LARRY: What is that supposed to mean?

SHARA: You know exactly what it means. You can’t keep expecting Bethany to accept a marriage where she feels like she comes second.

Larry tightened his grip on the phone.

LARRY: I don’t need a lecture from you.

SHARA: Then stop asking questions you don’t want answered.

Larry ended the call.

He looked at Bethany’s note again.

He was angry that she had left without giving him another chance to explain himself.

But beneath that anger was something he refused to acknowledge.

Fear.

Not simply the fear of losing his wife, but the fear that Bethany might discover something he had been keeping from her.

He walked to the desk and opened a drawer.

Inside was a brown envelope containing several documents.

Larry examined them carefully before closing the drawer.

Then he grabbed the envelope and his keys.

LARRY: If Bethany wants answers, she’ll get them.

He knew where she had gone.

Charlotte’s house.

And he was going there to make a decision that could end their marriage permanently.

Bethany sat on the sofa while Charlotte prepared lunch.

For the first time that day, she had begun to calm down.

Then someone knocked loudly at the front door.

Charlotte opened it.

Larry stood outside, holding a brown envelope.

LARRY: Is Bethany here?

CHARLOTTE: You know she’s here. What do you want?

LARRY: I need to speak to my wife.

CHARLOTTE: You had plenty of opportunities to speak to her when you were living together.

Larry stepped inside after Bethany appeared in the hallway.

His eyes met hers.

LARRY: So you really did leave.

BETHANY: You already know that, Larry. You read my note.

LARRY: You should have talked to me before making such a big decision.

Bethany gave a bitter laugh.

BETHANY: I spent months trying to talk to you. You wouldn’t listen.

Larry placed the brown envelope on the coffee table.

LARRY: Then perhaps we should stop pretending this marriage can be fixed.

Bethany stared at the envelope.

BETHANY: What is that?

Larry opened it and removed the documents.

LARRY: Divorce papers.

Charlotte stepped forward in disbelief.

CHARLOTTE: You came here to divorce her? After everything she just told you?

LARRY: This is between Bethany and me.

Bethany slowly picked up the papers.

Her hands trembled as she read the heading.

BETHANY: You want to end our marriage?

LARRY: I think it’s time we both move