"He’s treating you right"

Alden read the phrase again, his stomach twisting. What did that even mean? How could she move on so quickly? Was it really that easy to lose feelings, to forget everything they shared? Was this new guy somehow better?

He clenched his cigarette between his fingers, eyes narrowing as frustration simmered into anger. The ember burned down, singeing his fingers, but he didn’t feel a thing. All he could feel was that hollow ache in his chest, gnawing at him, leaving him feeling emptier with each breath he took.

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Alden took a sharp drag, the smoke filling his lungs as though it might somehow fill the void within him. "She’s treating you right," he muttered to himself, a bitter twist in his tone. Was that it? Was it just about being "treated right"? Like everything they had meant nothing, just a matter of convenience that had finally run its course?

The memory of her laugh surfaced in his mind, unbidden—a sound he used to think he’d spend his life listening to. He could practically feel her presence beside him, the faint scent of her perfume haunting him, taunting him with what was now gone. He rubbed his eyes, pressing his palms against his face as if he could push the thoughts away.

But they lingered, growing heavier, as he felt his grip on that chapter of his life slipping further. He’d spent so much time convincing himself that what they had was different, special. The one thing he thought was solid in his life had crumbled before his eyes, leaving him stranded in a past that had long since let him go.

He dropped the cigarette, grinding it into the dirt with his heel. The numbness gave way to anger—a hard, searing anger that flared like a spark in the darkness around him. He’d been discarded, cast aside like he was something that could just be replaced.

But if it was that easy for her... he thought, teeth clenched. He straightened, shoulders tense. Maybe it was time to accept it, to let her be someone else’s problem now. But even as he turned to leave, he knew he was only fooling himself. The ache was still there, throbbing, raw, and unyielding.