Adeline Nixon POV:
A sudden burst of applause from the train's common area jolted me from my dark thoughts. I looked up. A television screen, mounted high, was playing a live feed. It was a press conference. Ethan. And next to him, a tearful Keira.
I remembered vaguely that Keira had been embroiled in some scandal recently, some manufactured drama about an old tweet. The media always loved to build them up, then tear them down. But this was different. Keira, usually so composed, was openly weeping, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
Ethan, ever the knight in shining armor, put a comforting arm around her. His voice, usually so confident, was laced with a concerned edge. "I just want to say," he began, his gaze sweeping over the reporters, "that what Keira is going through is unacceptable. The level of online harassment, the vitriol… it' s disgusting. No one deserves this kind of hate." He squeezed her shoulder gently, a picture of unwavering support. "We need to do better as a society. We need to be kinder."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. Kinder? The irony was a punch to the gut. He stood there, preaching about kindness, about the dangers of online harassment, while his own girlfriend had been subjected to exactly that, day in and day out, for months. And he had done nothing. Less than nothing. He had dismissed my pain, called me dramatic, told me to "get over it."
My throat tightened, a burning sensation spreading through my chest. The tears, hot and unwanted, welled up in my eyes. I couldn't stop them. They streamed down my face, silently, endlessly. I felt a sniffle escape, uncontrollable.
"Are you okay, honey?" A kind-faced older woman next to me asked, her voice soft with concern. She offered me a tissue.
I shook my head, unable to speak, mortified that I was breaking down in public. I mumbled an apology, grabbed my bag, and stumbled off the train at the next stop, any pretense of composure shattered. I needed to get away, needed to breathe.
I walked the streets of some unfamiliar town, the tears still falling. It wasn't just the media, not just the fans, not just Keira. It was Ethan. It was always Ethan. He was the root of this suffocating pain, this crippling anxiety.
The online hate had been relentless. "Go kill yourself, Adeline." "You're worthless, no wonder he cheats." "He belongs with Keira, not with his ugly old babysitter." I'd tried to ignore it, to block it out, but it seeped into every corner of my life. I started having panic attacks in public, terrified of being recognized, terrified of the judging stares. I lost weight, stopped sleeping. My doctor had prescribed anti-anxiety medication, but even that barely dulled the edge.
One day, an extreme fan had found my address. They'd left a dead bird on my doorstep, with a note: "Leave Ethan alone." I' d called him, terrified, my voice shaking uncontrollably.
"Adeline, come on," he' d said, his tone impatient. "It's probably just a prank. Fans get a little crazy sometimes. Just ignore it. Don't make a big deal out of nothing." He' d made it seem like I was the problem for being scared.
His dismissiveness was the cruelest weapon. It wasn't the words of strangers that hurt the most; it was his indifference, his casual cruelty, his refusal to see my suffering. I remembered him saying, "You're so fragile, Adeline. Keira is much stronger. She handles the pressure so much better." He' d compared me to her, subtly, insidiously, chipping away at my self-worth until I believed I was indeed fragile, dramatic, and weak.
My mind replayed his embrace with Keira on screen, his words about her resilience, his public condemnation of online bullying. He was capable of empathy, of protection, of furious defense. Just not for me. He poured all his care into his public image, into his co-star, into anyone but the woman who had given him seven years of her life. The realization hit me with the force of a tidal wave. I was being humiliated, systematically torn down, by the man who claimed to love me.
