A Love I Never Knew

John’s voice quivered as he confessed, “The ring wasn’t for you. The engraving is from someone I loved, someone I never told you about.” His words crashed over me, each one a wave of betrayal that left me gasping for air.

A secret relationship? The thought churned in my mind. “I was in love with her,” he continued, his regret etched into every word. My hands trembled, clutching the ring that suddenly felt like a stranger’s possession. Decades of memories replayed in my mind, each one now tainted by his deception. The weight of his secret crushed me, shattering the trust I thought we’d built over forty years.