The morning struggled to break through the thick curtains of the bedroom. A pale, gray light filled the room with a dull atmosphere, as if the sky itself were mourning the death of lost illusions.
Jessica hadn't slept a wink all night.
Lying on her back, eyes wide open, she kept replaying the scene in her head. The empty wrapper, the foreign scent, Grégory's guilty silence. Each passing minute was a drop of poison corroding her heart. She had tried to breathe, to put things into perspective, to convince herself that maybe she was overthinking. But deep down, she knew. This time, it wasn't just a feeling. It wasn't a vague suspicion. It was proof.
Grégory had left early that morning without a word. He had thrown on his coat, grabbed his keys, and slipped out of the apartment like a ghost, leaving behind a heavy, icy silence.
Jessica, meanwhile, had made a decision. The weight of the betrayal was too much for her to focus on work. She had called her boss and requested a few days off, citing an urgent personal issue she needed to take care of. She avoided the details, preferring to keep her secret to herself — at least for now.
Her phone, lying on the bedside table, seemed to pull at her like a lifeline in the middle of a storm. She hesitated for a moment, fingers hovering above the screen, then typed a name she hadn't called in days.
Angie.
Her best friend. The one she called to laugh, to cry, to confide in. The one who had witnessed every stage of her relationship with Grégory. From the first meeting to the last tense birthday.
She tapped "Call."
The dial tone rang. Once. Twice.
— "Hello?" Angie's voice came through the receiver, still a bit sleepy, but warm and familiar.
Jessica felt her throat tighten.
— "Angie... it's me."
A pause. Then Angie responded, more alert:
— "Jess? Are you okay? It's early, you're scaring me..."
And that's when the dam broke.
— "No... no, I'm not okay... I can't take it anymore... Angie, I just can't...!" she sobbed, her chest heaving.
She hadn't planned to cry — not this soon. But hearing that familiar voice, hearing Angie, was like releasing all the pressure she had bottled up all night. The tears came without warning, rolling silently down her cheeks.
— "Oh my God... What happened? Jessica, you're scaring me."
— "He came home at one thirty in the morning," she whispered in a choked voice. "I went through his pants while he was asleep... Angie... I found an empty condom wrapper in his pocket... It wasn't ours... It wasn't our brand... He slept with someone else... I'm sure of it."
Now she was sobbing, her voice broken by sharp, uneven breaths.
On the other end, Angie was silent for a few seconds. Then her voice came back, gentle but firm:
— "Oh honey... come here. Come this weekend. Don't stay there. I don't care what you had planned. Just come. You need to breathe, to talk, to get out of that house. I'm here, Jess."
Jessica swallowed a sob and continued:
— "I didn't want to believe it… You know, I told myself maybe I was being paranoid, imagining things… But now I have proof. It's over. It's... it's really over, Angie."
— "No, you are not over, okay? He is the problem. Not you. You held on, Jess, all this time. You took it, you believed in him, you hoped. And now that the truth is out, you're not going to fall apart alone. You need space, peace, to find yourself again. And I want you to come here. Promise me you'll come."
Jessica managed a shaky smile.
— "I was actually going to ask you… if I could come stay with you next weekend. Just… to clear my head. To not be alone. I need you, Angie. You're the only one I can talk to."
— "You don't even have to ask. You're coming, period. I'll take care of everything. We'll watch movies, go for walks, talk all night if you want. And if I have to, I'll roast a guy on the barbecue just to make you laugh."
Jessica let out a more genuine smile.
— "You never change..."
— "And neither do you. Even in pieces, you're still here. And I'm proud of you, do you hear me? You didn't let yourself stay blind. You had the courage to find the truth. And now, we'll get back up together."
Jessica stayed silent for a moment, the phone pressed to her ear, eyes staring into space.
— "Do you think I'll get over this?"
— "I know you will. You're stronger than you think. And I'm here, okay? This weekend, you're coming. And until then, call me anytime it gets too much. Even if it's two in the morning. I don't care. I want you to know you're not alone."
A long sigh escaped Jessica's lips, a mix of exhaustion and relief.
— "Thank you, Angie... I don't know what I'd do without you."
— "You'll never have to find out. Because I'll always be here."
Jessica closed her eyes, feeling for the first time in hours her heart slow down just a little. She was still hurting, of course. She felt betrayed, humiliated, broken. But she wasn't alone.
And that was already a kind of light in the tunnel.