Chapter 6

A Shattered Dream

I stopped going to work.

There didn’t seem to be a point anymore. Every morning, I woke up with the same feeling of dread, the same hollow pit in my chest that gnawed at me until I could barely move. My apartment, once a peaceful aboard, now felt like a prison cell. The walls seemed to close in on me, suffocating me with memories of what had been and what had been lost.

Evelyn. Her name echoed in my mind like a haunting melody I couldn’t escape. I couldn’t think of anything else. I couldn’t shake the image of her signature, bold and clear, on those divorce papers. It was final, like the end of a story. The end of our story.

For days, I sat there, staring at the paper, tracing her name with my eyes, trying to understand how it had come to this. How had we gone from the love we once shared, the dreams we once had, to this cold separation? And why? Why had she signed those papers without even giving me a chance to speak, to understand what was happening?

The memories were like a tide, pulling me under, refusing to let me surface for air. I thought back to the beginning, to the day Evelyn first introduced me to her parents. It had been a disaster from the start, though I hadn’t fully realized it at the time.

I was young, naive, and madly in love. Evelyn was everything to me, bright, beautiful, full of life. I thought we could overcome anything together. But I’d been wrong. So wrong.

I’ll never forget the look her father gave me that day. The way his eyes swept over me, taking in every detail of my appearance, his mouth twisting into a slight frown as if he was disappointed that his daughter had chosen someone like me. I wasn’t rich, I wasn’t powerful. I didn’t come from a family with wealth or influence. I was just a guy, a poor son-in-law in love with a girl far out of my league.

But Evelyn didn’t care. At least, that’s what I had believed. She’d held my hand tightly as we stood in her parents’ living room, surrounded by marble floors and expensive artwork that screamed wealth. Her grip was firm, her smile unwavering as she introduced me to her parents. And for a brief moment, I thought it would be enough.

“Mom, Dad, this is Austin,” she said, her voice brimming with pride. “The man I love.” I remembered everything like it's yesterday.

Her mother’s face remained perfectly composed, though her eyes flickered with something I couldn’t quite place, disapproval, maybe. Her father, on the other hand, didn’t bother hiding his disdain.

“Austin,” he said, repeating my name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “And what is it that you do for a living, Austin?”

I swallowed hard, trying to maintain my composure. I had known this moment was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier. “I’m studying business at university, sir,” I replied, my voice steady, though inside I felt like a kid being scolded by a teacher. “I’m working part-time to support myself while I finish my degree.”

Evelyn’s father raised an eyebrow, glancing at his wife as if to say, Is this really the best she could do? He didn’t even bother to hide the disappointment in his voice as he replied, “Ah, a student. And what do you plan to do with that degree once you’ve finished?”

“I’m going to start my own business,” I said, more confidently this time. I had always believed in my dream, even if no one else did. “I want to build something from the ground up, something that’s mine.”

Her father let out a small, derisive chuckle, shaking his head slightly. “A noble ambition, I’m sure,” he said, though his tone suggested otherwise. “But ambition alone isn’t enough in this world, Austin. You need connections. Money. Power. Things I’m not sure you’ll ever have.”

His words stung, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to make a scene, didn’t want to ruin the moment for Evelyn. She loved her parents, and I didn’t want to put her in an awkward position. But deep down, I knew I wasn’t what they wanted for their daughter. I knew they saw me as a liability, someone who would only drag her down.

Still, Evelyn didn’t let go of my hand. She didn’t flinch or back down. She stood by my side, her eyes shining with defiance as she looked at her parents. “I don’t care about any of that,” she said, her voice firm. “I love Austin for who he is, not what he can give me.”

For a moment, I felt a surge of pride. She was standing up for me, for us. But her father wasn’t easily swayed.

“Love,” he said, shaking his head. “Love is a beautiful thing, Evelyn. But it’s not enough to sustain a marriage. It’s not enough to build a future. You need security, stability, things Austin can’t provide. You deserve better.”

The words were like a punch to the gut, but Evelyn didn’t waver. “I don’t need anything but him,” she said softly. “We’ll make it work. Together.”

Her father sighed, clearly exasperated, but he didn’t argue further. Instead, he turned to me, his expression hardening. “I hope, for your sake, that you’re willing to work hard, Austin,” he said, his voice cold. “Because loving my daughter means more than just words. It means providing for her, giving her the life she deserves. And if you can’t do that, then you have no business being with her.”

I nodded, swallowing my pride. “I will, sir. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

And I meant it. I loved Evelyn more than anything, and I was willing to do whatever I had to in order to make her happy. But now, as I sat there, staring at the divorce papers, I couldn’t help but wonder if her father had been right all along.

Maybe I wasn’t enough. Maybe I never had been.

I shook my head, trying to push the thought away. I had tried my best. I had worked hard, done everything I could to make a life for us. We didn’t have much, but we had each other. That was supposed to be enough.

But something had changed. Somewhere along the way, things had shifted, and I hadn’t even noticed. Evelyn had started pulling away, her smiles becoming less frequent, her laughter quieter. I thought it was just stress, thought maybe she was struggling with the weight of her parents’ disapproval, but now I wasn’t so sure.

Had she stopped loving me? Had I failed her in some way?

I didn’t have any answers, just a million questions swirling in my mind, each one more painful than the last.

I hadn’t been back to her parents’ house since that day. After we got married, Evelyn and I built a life of our own, far away from their judgmental eyes. We lived in a small apartment, on my meager salary while I worked part-time and studied. It wasn’t glamorous, but we were happy, at least, I thought we were.

But now I wasn’t so sure. Had she been pretending all along? Had she been waiting for the moment when she could finally walk away?

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. I couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t make sense of the mess my life had become. The woman I loved had signed divorce papers, and I was left with nothing but questions?

I hadn’t gone to work since that day. I didn’t see the point. Everything felt meaningless without her. My job, my ambitions, my future, none of it mattered if Evelyn wasn’t by my side. I had been building a life for us, not for myself. And now that she was gone, I didn’t know what to do.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her. The way she used to smile at me, the way she’d curl up next to me on the couch after a long day, the way her eyes would light up when we talked about our future together. It was all I had left now, memories of a time when everything seemed so simple, so full of promise.

But those memories were tainted now, poisoned by the knowledge that she had walked away. That she had signed those papers without even giving me a chance to fight for us.

What went wrong? I asked myself for the hundredth time. How did we get here?

I stood up from the table, pacing back and forth in the small, apartment. It felt suffocating, the walls closing in on me, the air thick with the weight of my despair. I needed to get out, needed to clear my head.

Without thinking, I grabbed my coat and headed for the door. I didn’t know where I was going, maybe a walk would help, maybe some fresh air would make things clearer. But as I stepped outside, the cold winter wind biting at my skin, I realized that no amount of fresh air could fix the mess I was in.

I walked aimlessly through the streets, the city alive with the sounds of cars and people, all of them moving forward with their lives while I was stuck in place, unable to move on. I felt like a ghost, drifting through the world, unseen and unnoticed.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and for a brief moment, my heart leaped. Maybe it’s Evelyn, I thought. Maybe she’s the one calling.